Thank you Judge Towson for being such a great judge, for the men and women of the jury who gave up their time to hear this case, and for helping keep guys like this off our streets! Jury Gives Running Man 50 years Eli Vernon III A 49-year-old Fort Worth man who had a wreck after a high speed chase with Willow Park police officers on Interstate 20 last November was convicted of evading arrest or detention with a vehicle and sentenced to 50 years in prison in a case that concluded Wednesday in Parker County District Court. An Erath County man testified Tuesday that he called 911 after Eli Vernon III attempted to sell him some jewelry that Vernon said was purchased with a stolen credit card. The caller followed Vernon from the Weatherford truck stop, where he was solicited, and onto I-20 until a police officer could get behind Vernon to pull him over to investigate. When two Willow Park officers attempted to stop Vernon’s black Chevy Impala, he tried to outrun them heading eastbound on the interstate, crossing the Parker/Tarrant county line with speeds of up to 107 m.p.h. while weaving in and out of traffic, according to the officers’ testimony and two dash camera videos which were admitted into evidence. Shortly after passing the Linkcrest exit, Vernon attempted to get around another vehicle and lost control, crossing all three lanes of traffic, striking a center median, ricocheting back across all three lanes, spinning, and then returning to the center area where he struck a light pole. “When I first watched the end of the police chase video, I flinched, thinking that I was about to see a big wreck,” said Assistant District Attorney Jeff Swain, who prosecuted the case along with Assistant District Attorney Abby Placke. “It’s a miracle nobody was hurt.” After police handcuffed him, Vernon told officers that he thought that their Dodge Charger police cruisers were actually the same Dodge Charger that was used to try to rob him a month prior. “We thought that defense was ridiculous,” Placke said. “Unlike the mystery robbery Charger, if there ever was one, these two police vehicles had lots of red and blue police lights and sirens.” During the punishment phase of trial, prosecutors introduced evidence showing that Vernon had been to prison five different times for a total of eight felony convictions. His federal probation officer also testified that Vernon had been released from the federal penitentiary just seven months prior to his latest arrest. Among Vernon’s prior convictions were four robberies, two drug possession charges, one drug distribution case, and a burglary of a vehicle. “This defendant is a habitual offender two-and-a-half times over,” Swain said. “The jurors in this case stepped forward on behalf of our community and said we’ve had enough.” Jurors deliberated about an hour before returning their guilty verdict and a little over an hour before assessing Vernon’s sentence at 50 years in prison. Due to a jury finding that the way that he drove his vehicle during the pursuit could have caused death or serious bodily injury, Vernon will not be eligible to be paroled until 2038, Swain said. 43rd District Judge Craig Towson presided over the trial.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Jun 2013 14:57:00 +0000
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