EVADING ARREST 20 YEARS

On November 7, 2012, Judge Kathleen Hamilton, Judge in the 359^th District Court, sentenced Kevin Arthur Larson, Jr. to 20 years in prison for Evading Arrest in a Motor Vehicle, 10 years for Burglary of a Building, and 10 years for Tampering with Evidence. On November 5, 2012, Larson pled guilty to all three counts stemming from an incident that occurred on December 30, 2011. On that date, Deputy Robert Layman from the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office noticed two men, including Larson, loading items into a vehicle near the Garden Center at the Porter Wal-Mart. Larson and his co-defendant Joseph Wilbert Sonnier fled the scene. This led to a high speed chase that lasted for approximately 27 miles, with the suspects driving over 100 miles per hour. The chase ended when Humble Police Sgt. Perry Burkeen successfully set up a spike system, disabling the suspects’ vehicle just north of Rankin Road in Harris County. When officers searched the vehicle they located nearly $1,500 worth of DVDs and TV Monitors taken from the Porter Wal-Mart. Splendora Police Officer Eddie Hernandez assisted in the long chase captured the individuals tossing stolen items out of the moving vehicle on video. Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeffery Durrenberger went back to the Porter Wal-Mart and recovered surveillance video of the two individuals breaking into the locked Garden Center and putting the items over the fence.

During the sentencing phase of trial, Assistant District Attorney, Rochelle C. Guiton, presented evidence to the court that in 2005, Larson was sentenced to 10 years in prison in Washington state for soliciting a 15 year old girl to murder her own mother. The court also heard evidence that Larson was convicted of Taking a Vehicle without Permission, Possession of Stolen Property, and Attempting to Elude a Police Vehicle, also committed in the state of Washington. In closing, Guiton stated that Larson has been committing crimes since 2000 and in 12 years has failed to prove himself a productive member of society. In sentencing Larson, Judge Hamilton said she cringed watching the video, in which Larson ran through countless intersections of busy Montgomery County. She said the dangers were outrageous and she does not know how no one was hurt.

 

 

 

The co-defendant Joseph Wilbert Sonnier also pled guilty on November 5 and was sentenced by Judge Hamilton to 8 years prison for Burglary of a Building.