Lucedale man carjacked 2 drivers in 2 days, pushing drivers out. Now he’ll go to prison.
A Lucedale man will spend 25 years, day for day, in state prison as a habitual offender after pleading guilty to an armed carjacking and other charges.
Clinton Haas Pierce was sentenced Monday by Judge Dale Harkey after he pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of stolen property, one count of carjacking and one count of armed carjacking.
Pierce, who is 29, was arrested several times over the last three years. His charges include:
▪ On Aug. 17, 2019, Pierce was given a ride by a passerby after Pierce claimed his vehicle had broken down. Pierce, who had a gun, assaulted the driver and pushed him out of the vehicle near Wade Baptist Church in Jackson County.
Harkey sentenced him Monday to 30 years in prison, with 25 years day for day and the remaining five years on post-release supervision, plus court costs, $1,000 fine, and $100 to the Crime Victims Compensation Fund.
▪ Two days after the previous incident, on Aug. 19, 2019, Pierce committed a second carjacking, when police said he pushed a victim out of his Chevy Colorado truck and took the vehicle. Pierce was spotted by Lucedale police and led the officers on a high-speed chase through George County until he crashed his vehicle and was apprehended.
▪ On Nov. 18, 2017, Pierce stole a Jeep Grand Cherokee in Jackson County and was later apprehended in the vehicle.
▪ A year later to the day, on Nov. 18, 2018, Pierce was found in George County in a vehicle that was reported stolen out of Biloxi.
He pleaded guilty to all of these crimes on Monday.
He also had been arrested in 2018 on burglary charges and possession of stolen property, in 2017 on a charge of possession of meth, and in 2016 on a probation violation charge.
District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath said, “The defendant has spent a majority of his adult life making decisions that placed himself, and others, in danger. I hope this sentence shows that our office will prosecute those who habitually commit crimes to the fullest extent of the law.”
“He has endangered the public, even those who offered to help him in his time of need,” said Bill Barrett, assistant district attorney for Jackson County. “This 25 year, day for day, sentence ends his ability to victimize another member of our society for a long time. “
