DA Warren Montgomery reported that last week a St. Tammany Parish jury unanimously found 58 YO Timothy Spicer of Mandeville guilty as charged of aggravated obstruction of a highway, aggravated flight from an officer and aggravated criminal damage to property.
District Judge William Burris presided over the trial.
Shortly after midnight on June 9th, 2022, a St. Tammany Parish police officer, was patrolling the area of Highway 190 in Lacombe when he observed a white Jeep sport utility vehicle with no functioning license plate lights. The officer attempted to initiate a traffic stop.
The driver of the SUV, later identified as the defendant, did not stop and instead accelerated. The defendant escalated his speed up to 95 miles per hour and began weaving from his lane of travel into the opposite lane and onto the gravel shoulder. An oncoming vehicle had to swerve off the roadway to avoid a head-on collision.
The defendant repeatedly entered the oncoming lane of travel, putting his life and the lives of others in danger. The chase continued onto the Bayou Castine bridge in Mandeville, where the defendant intentionally collided with one of the police units, resulting in his Jeep being disabled. The defendant’s driver-side door was wedged against the railing of the bridge so he climbed out through the window. Officers engaged the defendant with loud verbal commands and weapons drawn. Instead of surrendering, the defendant did a back flip into the bayou below and swam away.
A canine unit was summoned to the scene to assist the officers in their search for the defendant but the defendant could not be found. Officers were able to identify the defendant from a cell phone and wallet he left in the vehicle. The cell phone showed Spicer’s image on the screen and the wallet contained his identification.
Within twenty-four hours, the defendant was located walking down a street, still soaking wet. He was taken into custody and transported to the parish jail.
The defendant will be sentenced on August 21. The defendant has multiple prior felony convictions, including armed robbery, burglary, and theft; he had been released on parole only three months prior to this incident.
