Man pleads guilty to ramming cop cars during high-speed chase
Published 1:47 pm Friday, August 22, 2014
By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor
COLUMBIANA – A 44-year-old Alabaster man will spend the next three years on probation after he pleaded guilty to striking multiple Alabaster police vehicles during a 2012 high-speed chase.
Courtney Sherrod Kennedy, who lists an address in the 100 block of Garden Side Drive, pleaded guilty to three felony counts of first-degree attempted assault and one misdemeanor charge of reckless endangerment on Aug. 12, according to Shelby County Circuit Court documents.
Through a plea agreement, one count of felony attempted murder against Kennedy was reduced to first-degree attempted assault, and charges of obstructing justice by using a false identity and attempt to elude were dismissed.
Kennedy also must pay $1,000 in restitution to the Alabaster Police Department, and must pay $16,579.20 in restitution to the Millennium Risk Management company.
Alabaster police arrested Kennedy on June 25, 2012 after officers said the suspect led them on a high-speed chase after an attempted traffic stop.
According to police, an officer pulled Kennedy over on a traffic violation before the suspect sped away.
A short time later, another officer located Kennedy’s vehicle on First Avenue in Alabaster. Kennedy then refused to yield to officers and led them on a high-speed chase.
During the chase, police said Kennedy attempted to hit a police car head-on before striking a private citizen’s car on First Avenue, causing minor damage. Kennedy then struck another police car, causing minor damage.
Police said Kennedy then hit another police vehicle head-on near the intersection of First Avenue and Thompson Road, injuring the officer driving the patrol car.
After his vehicle collided with the police car, police said Kennedy fled the scene on foot and ran into a wooded area off Thompson Road. After a two-hour search involving the Alabaster, Helena and Calera police departments and the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, officers located and arrested Kennedy off First Avenue near the Fox Valley Apartments before the suspect was transported to Shelby Baptist Medical Center for treatment of minor injuries.