A Perry County man was arrested on several charges recently in connection with an incident in which he allegedly fled from and assaulted police.
According to the arrest citation written by Hazard Police Officer Michael Ritchie, on Nov. 26, he and Sgt. Randy Gwin attempted to conduct a traffic stop on a 2016 Chevrolet Silverado driven by Ronnie Lee Sebastian, 29, of Bourbon Ridge Lane, Bonnyman, on East Main Street.
As Ritchie approached the vehicle, the citation said, Sebastian put the pickup truck in drive and accelerated through a gravel parking lot onto the roadway, launching gravels into the air which hit both Ritchie and Gwin.
The officers, the citation said, ran back to their cruisers and began pursuing Sebastian. During the ensuing chase, Ritchie wrote, Sebastian drove recklessly on East Main Street and turned his lights off in order to not be seen.
In addition, the citation said, Sebastian drove into the other lane of travel and turned onto Ky. 15, not yielding to oncoming traffic, then traveled onto Fourseam Buffalo Road and then onto an old mine road, at which time the officers terminated the pursuit.
The officers, the citation said, learned that Sebastian should be at his residence and located the truck.
Sebastian, the citation said, called into the Perry County 911 Center reporting his vehicle had been stolen and that he was in Florida. Ritchie wrote that 911 was able to pinpoint that the phone from which Sebastian called was around the Food City in Hazard.
The citation said, HPD Officer Miller located Sebastian’s other vehicle at Food City and found Sebastian’s wife inside, at which time she told the officers she had not seen Sebastian or talked to him all day.
Gwin and HPD Officer Day, the citation said, located Sebastian in the parking lot of Food City, at which time Sebastian told Ritchie “I can’t wait to see you at Thanksgiving next year,” in a menacing manner.
Once he was lodged in the Kentucky River Regional Jail, the citation said, Sebastian told the officers they “missed the biggest drug bust ever” while chasing him.
Sebastian was charged with third-degree terroristic threatening, first-degree fleeing or evading police (motor vehicle), third-degree assault (two counts), falsely reporting an incident to law enforcement, first-degree wanton endangerment and traffic charges.
