Tennessee man pleads guilty to injuring Biloxi officer with car outside of night club
A Tennessee man has pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated assault on an officer and one count of felony failure to stop a motor vehicle, District Attorney Crosby Parker announced in a news release Thursday.
Circuit Court Judge Lisa P. Dodson accepted the plea of Nashville native Antonio Dewayne Briley, 26, and he was sentenced to serve 12 years in prison.
The incident that led to Briley’s plea started when he was reported to have backed into a woman’s vehicle in the parking lot of Club 100 on Howard Avenue in Biloxi.
Briley rolled down his window when an officer approached his car, but he then sped through the parking lot.
Other police officers near the entrance of the parking lot attempted to stop the vehicle, but Briley accelerated over the curb and onto the street.
He hit one of the officers, injuring his leg, Parker said in the release.
More officers then became involved in a vehicle chase of Briley through heavy traffic on Martin Luther King Blvd.
Briley crashed his vehicle at the intersection of Martin Luther King Blvd. and Howard Avenue. He and a passenger then fled from the vehicle.
The passenger was caught after a short chase, and Briley was later found at a nearby hotel, where he was taken into custody. Marijuana was discovered in Briley’s vehicle and methamphetamine in his hotel room.
Also, Briley had an active warrant out of Tennessee for aggravated assault.
Assistant District Attorney Ian Baker said in the release that Briley admitted in his plea he did not stop his vehicle because he had drugs in the car and he was aware of the warrant for his arrest.
The officer who was injured in the incident has fully recovered from his injuries and has returned to work.
After his sentence is complete in Mississippi, Briley faces additional prosecution in Tennessee for separate aggravated assaults.
