Manassas Journal Messenger | Woodbridge man pleads guilty to assault on officer
A 43-year-old Woodbridge man pleaded guilty Thursday to charges stemming from a chase with police in which he hit a police cruiser several times.
James Newlyn Trent, of 2007 Darlington Loop, was originally charged with attempted capital murder of an officer, speeding to elude, driving under the influence of drugs, felony obstruction of justice and hit and run.
Thursday, he pleaded guilty to amended charges of assault and battery on an officer, eluding an officer and felony hit and run.
Police stopped Trent outside a 7-Eleven near Prince William Parkway in connection with a robbery that occurred July 2 at Coleman Power Sports on Telegraph Road.
When Officer Minnick walked to Trent’s 1993 Honda CRX, Trent pulled onto the Parkway eastbound. Officer G.P. Brunelle followed. Near the Smoketown Road and Parkway intersection Trent hit Brunelle’s cruiser twice in the front fender.
“He slammed on his brakes to try and get me to hit him. I swerved to the right to avoid him and came alongside him. He turned his wheel to the right, striking my front left side. I slowed down after the impact, and he turned his wheel, striking my vehicle for a second time,” Brunelle wrote in a criminal complaint filed with the court.
According to the complaint, Trent then crossed the median and began driving down the wrong side of the road at more than 80 miles per hour.
He made a another U-turn on the Parkway, and crossed U.S. 1 before abandoning the car at a dead end. Brunelle apprehended him in a residential backyard on Colchester Road. Brunelle sustained cuts on his elbows and had to have glass removed from his forehead as a result of the chase.
Staff writer Maria Hegstad can be reached at (703) 369-6594.