Javon_Mitchell

Javon Mitchell

 

COVINGTON—-A 20-year-old man who intentionally rammed the stolen vehicle he was driving into two police cars while trying to flee in Slidell has pled guilty to 14 felony charges in the incident, including two counts of attempted first degree murder of a police officer.

Jevon T. Mitchell, of New Orleans, entered his plea Wednesday afternoon (March 11) before Judge William J. “Rusty” Knight. The case was handled by Assistant District Attorney Nick Noriea. Mitchell was sentenced to 25 years in prison under the state’s multiple offender statute. He had been convicted of a prior felony, simple burglary of a vehicle, on April 2, 2014, in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court.

The Slidell incident occurred three weeks later, on April 24, 2014, when two St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office detectives responded to help the Slidell Police Department locate a stolen black Jeep Liberty. Mitchell, driving the stolen vehicle, had eluded officers the day before when they first attempted to stop him in Slidell.

Mitchell was fleeing again on the 24th, with Slidell police in pursuit, as he sped through a business parking lot at the intersection of Montgomery Boulevard and Voters Road. Mitchell struck a corner of the building and a parked car and then plowed intentionally into the rear driver’s side of a car driven by a Sheriff’s Office detective. The force of the collision pushed the detective’s car into another vehicle parked on the shoulder of Montgomery Boulevard.

Mitchell then repeatedly put the Jeep in reverse and sped forward, striking the detective’s car multiple times, as well as a marked police car and another parked car. Mitchell stopped only when an officer pulled his marked SUV in front of the Jeep to block it. As officers rushed to the car and tried to arrest Mitchell, he ignored their commands and fought them.

Several bags of marijuana were found on the floor of the passenger side, where a woman, identified as Errolnisha R. Howard, sat. She was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute. She pled guilty on Sept. 22, 2014, and was sentenced to five years in prison and an additional five years that were suspended. A child, who was found in an unsecured car seat, was taken into custody by the Office of Child Services.