LIMA — A Kentucky man who tried to outrun state troopers in a car chase that saw him driving the wrong way on Interstate 75 was sentenced to a drug treatment center Thursday.
Shawn M. Gregory, 23, of Fisherville, Kentucky, was placed on three years probation and ordered to pay $400 restitution on the charges of failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer and grand theft of a motor vehicle.
Gregory blamed an addiction to cocaine.
Judge Jeffrey Reed ordered Gregory to complete the WORTH Center program which will offer treatment for his addiction.
Gregory said he was returning to Kentucky from Detroit on the day of the chase in a stolen car. That car broke down, so he stole another.
“I’m terribly sorry for what I have done. I was in a really dark place in my life,” Gregory said. “If I was in my right mind, none of this would have happened.”
Reed told him he was lucky he didn’t kill anyone on the highway, himself or his girlfriend, Kaylee Herman, who also faced charges and was sentenced to three years probation.
The June 16 chase stretched from near Beaverdam to past Cridersville. It began in the southbound lane of Interstate 75 before Gregory drove across the median into the northbound lane and crashed into two state patrol cars.
Gregory and Herman, 22, of Louisville, Kentucky, were sought for charges in Hancock County. State troopers attempted to stop the vehicle in the southbound lane near Beaverdam but Gregory did not stop and the pursuit began.
Troopers deployed stop sticks near Bluelick Road and deflated the left front tire of the vehicle. Officials said Gregory then struck a trooper’s vehicle during the chase and tried to continue to drive off.
A short time later, officials said, Gregory drove over a paved crossover and into the south lane of I-75. Troopers intentionally struck the vehicle and disabled it near Cridersville.
Gregory and Herman were taken into custody at the scene.
Both were wanted in connection with a stolen vehicle in Hancock County and are suspects in several theft cases from vehicles.
Numerous police agencies participated in the chase that reached speeds in excess of 100 mph.
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