Two Years in Prison for Reckless Police Chase Through El Cajon

A man who rammed a police cruiser in El Cajon, touching off a chase through city streets, was handed a two-year prison term Wednesday.

Jerry Lee Hickethier, 34, pleaded guilty last month to assault with a deadly weapon and evading police with reckless driving, said Deputy District Attorney Lissa McDonald.

An El Cajon police sergeant activated his siren and overhead lights last May 2 when a white pickup truck driven by Hickethier ran a red light. The defendant put his vehicle in reverse and rammed the sergeant's patrol car at Naranca Avenue and Oro Street, police said.

During the subsequent chase, the pickup collided with another police car and was driven up onto a sidewalk, where it struck a light pole. Hickethier was boxed in by several other police cruisers and arrested on a freeway onramp.

At Hickethier's arraignment, a judge noted that the defendant has seven convictions from four states, mostly for misdemeanor driving offenses.

-City News Service