A teen who stole his mother’s car, then remained at large all summer and fought with police when they tried to arrest him, will serve half a year behind bars.
The defendant, Johnathan Casey Bryant, now 20, was ordered by Circuit Court Judge Bart Stanley to serve 180 days of a two-year sentence, make restitution to his mother and pay a $250 fine on charges of theft over $1,000, evading arrest, assault, and resisting arrest.
His sentences come for incidents which happened last July when he took his mother’s vehicle without permission. Police had tried to pull over the teen but he refused to stop, fleeing at speeds of 75 mph. At one point, police saw the teen lose control of the car and slam into a tree. However, the fugitive kept going after the crash in the wrecked car. Police called off the chase due to the threat to the public but warrants were obtained since they knew who was driving.
The youth remained at large for nearly the whole summer until he was found at his mother’s house, the same person whose vehicle he was accused of taking without permission
“I asked him his name and he mumbled a few times and then shook his head in the negative,” McMinnville Police Capt. Mark Mara said in warrants against the teen. “When I tried to handcuff him, he ran from the apartment.”
Mara said he still had a hold of the teen’s arm as he tried to flee, with the struggle continuing on the stairwell outside the apartment. The teen was able to push the officer off and fled on foot for a short way before being subdued and taken into custody. The officer reported having scrapes on both knees and a ripped uniform from the tussle with the fugitive.
Charges were later filed against Bryant’s mother for harboring a fugitive but they were dropped after it was learned Bryant had slipped into the house reportedly without his mother’s knowledge.