A passenger in a high-speed chase that left a deputy injured when her boyfriend slammed into the pursuing vehicle will escape with 12 days in jail. The driver of the car, however, still faces over a quarter century behind bars.
The passenger, Tammy Crusinberry, 29, entered guilty pleas before General Sessions Judge Bill Locke to charges of evading arrest and possession of drug paraphernalia. She was ordered to serve 12 days of an 11-month, 29-day sentence on the misdemeanors. Additional charges of vehicular assault, felony assault, felony evading arrest, reckless endangerment, and felony vandalism were dismissed as part of her plea bargain.
The driver of the car, Steffen Brady, 24, did not make out as well as his passenger as he still faces the above-mentioned felony counts along with the charge of DUI. All totaled, the felonies stack up to 30 years in prison should he be convicted and sentenced to the maximum on all of them.
His charges come for a chase that covered two counties last month and sent deputy Billy Joe Crouch to the hospital. The lawman remains under the care of a physician nearly a month later for residual effects from the head injury he suffered.
Brady refused to pull over on Post Road when lawmen tried to stop him. Both he and Crusinberry had outstanding warrants. Brady led officers on a high-speed chase down Viola Highway and into neighboring Grundy County before doing a U-turn and again returning to Warren County. A roadblock was set up just outside Viola but he was able to evade it by veering into a bean field. Deputy Crouch was trying to pull around Brady to do a rolling roadblock when the fugitive slammed into the deputy’s SUV, causing it to roll over. The fugitives were caught about a mile down the road.
In addition to charges coming from the wreck, both Brady and Crusinberry face charges for operating a meth lab at Green Acres Apartments. Their residence had been raided just a week before the high-speed chase.