Suspect in high speed Enid Police chase could face life in prison

ENID, Okla. (AP) A man who is accused of taking a patrol car from a Garfield County Sheriff's deputy and leading police on a chase will be back in court to face two felony counts that could put him

Monday, January 17th 2005, 6:04 am

By: News On 6

ENID, Okla. (AP) A man who is accused of taking a patrol car from a Garfield County Sheriff's deputy and leading police on a chase will be back in court to face two felony counts that could put him in prison for life.

Billy Eugene Gurney remains jailed in lieu of $100,000 after leading police on a high-speed chase with him behind the wheel of a patrol car and an officer following in the stolen vehicle Gurney was found sleeping in Thursday morning.

Deputy Matt Mixon asked Gurney to step out of the car then cuffed his hands behind his back and placed Gurney in the patrol car.

Gurney slipped his hands in front of him and drove away in the deputy's car.

Gurney was apprehended after a 20-minute chase that exceeded 100 miles-per-hour and ended when Mixon bumped into the stolen patrol car with the car Gurney had been driving, causing it to flip.

Gurney is expected in court tomorrow for a hearing on felony counts of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and larceny of an automobile.

He also is charged with a misdemeanor count of attempted escape.

The felonies are punishable by as much as life in prison because of his two prior convictions.