A local man has been sentenced to four years in prison for three charges after intentionally ramming a police vehicle twice and screaming “kill me” at officers.
Johnathan D. Sullivan, 42, appeared in Circuit Court on Wednesday after being arrested on seven charges in January 2019. Sullivan pled guilty to evading arrest with risk of death or injury since a vehicle was involved, aggravated assault, and vandalism of more than $2,500 but less than $10,000.
According to the arrest warrant, K-9 deputy Jared Jacobs assisted in a pursuit that Van Buren County officers had initiated on Coperhaver Road in Warren County. The vehicle driven by Sullivan passed deputy Jacobs as Van Buren County officers pursued Sullivan with emergency equipment activated.
Sullivan led officers down several roads, including Plainview Road, Highway 30, Dark Hollow Road and Collier Road. Once turning onto Collier Road, Sullivan drove onto a gravel access road leading to a farm. The vehicle ended up in a field and twice struck deputy Jacobs’ vehicle.
Sullivan first struck the Sheriff’s Department vehicle as he attempted to drive back onto the access road, side-swiping Jacobs who was occupying the gravel road, damaging the front and passenger side.
The second strike occurred when Jacobs drove back onto the road in front of Sullivan. The arrest warrant states Sullivan willfully and intentionally hit the driver-side door of the patrol unit with the front of his truck causing significant damage.
After exiting the vehicle, Sullivan allegedly began screaming “kill me” at officers before having to be physically tackled and forced into custody. Once arrested, a search of Sullivan’s person revealed a syringe in his jacket pocket.
When Sullivan was transported to Warren County Jail, a further search of his person revealed 10 green tablets believed to be Alaprozam, a Schedule IV substance. The total estimated damage to the police vehicle is $5,000.
Sullivan was sentenced to serve four years on all three charges, but those sentences will run concurrent to each other, or at the same time, resulting in a total four-year sentence at Tennessee Department of Corrections as a Range I offender. He also has to pay $2,500 in restitution costs to the Warren County Sherriff’s Department. The other four charges were dropped.
