A man with habitual DUIs is heading to jail to serve seven to 15 years, after giving chase to a policeman in his hopes to avoid his latest arrest, which culminated when he crashed into another car before being caught, as reported by the Journal News from Martinsburg.
A Berkeley County grand jury issued two counts of indictment in May stemming from the incident.
As part of a plea agreement, A.J.W. Jr., 57, pleaded guilty to two felony offenses: fleeing in a vehicle while driving under the influence from a law enforcement officer and fleeing in a vehicle from a law enforcement officer with reckless indifference.
For the conviction of fleeing while DUI, West Virginia's 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Gina Groh sentenced A.J.W. Jr. to three to 10 years in prison.
The minimum three-year sentence was automatically doubled as A.J.W. Jr. agreed to being a second-offense recidivist.
For the conviction of fleeing while reckless indifference, A.J.W. Jr. was sentenced to one to five years - with the jail time running consecutively with his other sentence.
For the state, Berkeley County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Christine M. Riley agreed to forgo the recidivist third-time offender prosecution - which prevented A.J.W. Jr. from receiving up to life in prison.
Riley also dismissed A.J.W. Jr.'s two last misdemeanor counts: displaying improper vehicle registration and operating a vehicle without insurance.
Attorney Matthew Harvey represented A.J.W. JR.. Neither attorney, nor client, made a statement in court before the sentence was read.
Riley recounted the events prior to A.J.W. Jr.'s arrest and also chose not to add any further comment at the sentencing.
The charges stemmed from an incident that occurred on March 30, 2010. West Virginia State Police Sr. Trooper N.K.C. explained that while attempting to perform a traffic stop - for an expired vehicle registration on a 1978 Dodge truck that A.J.W. Jr. was driving - A.J.W. Jr. gave chase.
A.J.W. Jr., originally seen toward King Street in Martinsburg, turned his vehicle abruptly to the left. Without signaling his intention with the car's turn indicator, he headed into oncoming traffic.
From there Trooper N.K.C. followed the truck further into Martinsburg through to Interstate 81 South. Once on the interstate, A.J.W. Jr. was seen using the shoulder of the road to get past at least one other vehicle.
Then, exiting Interstate North, A.J.W. Jr. drove east on Tabler Station Road, where he collided with another car.
A.J.W. Jr.'s truck finally came to a stop when it ran into a large concrete barrier.
During the ensuing discussion with the Trooper, A.J.W. Jr. admitted to consuming two beers earlier that morning. His blood was drawn for testing later at City Hospital.
A.J.W. Jr.'s record, with a history six convictions, began in 1986. Several are for
DUI, driving on a revoked license for DUI and DUI-third-offense.
Contact a DUI attorney for the best representation possible if you are facing charges stemming from DUI, DWI, OUI or OWI. A DUI attorney is well versed in working out plea deals.