A man whose cases filled an entire page of the court docket has been bound to the grand jury on 20 criminal counts for a pair of high-speed runs from the law.
The defendant, Phillip Joe Potter, 24, appeared before General Sessions Judge Bill Locke last week and was bound to the grand jury on charges of aggravated assault, evading arrest, driving on a revoked license, reckless endangerment, driving on a suspended license, leaving the scene of an accident, felony vandalism, theft, grand theft, driving without insurance, and violation of the registration law. Some of the charges were repeated due to his two flights from arrest.
Lawmen say Potter was already wanted on charges when Sheriff’s Sgt. Billy Joe Crouch saw him on Old Shelbyville Road.
“Upon attempting to stop the vehicle, the driver sped away at a high rate of speed and in a reckless manner,” Crouch said, adding the suspect entered the city limits and kept evading him through residential neighborhoods. “He placed other motorists and the public in danger.”
Potter was able to give the deputy the slip through the maze of city streets. However, the owner of the Nissan Maxima turned him in, telling authorities Potter was the driver of the vehicle.
One month later, deputy Jared Jacobs fell in behind Potter on Fred Hoover Road. Knowing the suspect was wanted for the prior chase, he and Sgt. Kelly Carter started a pursuit that eventually went through three counties.
“He finally got stuck in a fence row off McQuade Circle,” Jacobs said, noting that during the pursuit Phillip nearly hit a pursuing officer head-on.
When he was stopped, a stolen motorcycle was found in the bed of the truck Potter was driving.