CITRUS COUNTY, Fla. – On Monday, Johnny Travis Wilson, 42, was sentenced to three life sentences by Citrus County Court Judge Richard Howard for charges he racked up on November 19, 2019.
The 42-year-old Crystal River resident began his trial in August, where he openly plead to the court and was sentenced to the maximum punishment of life in prison.
“Criminals with records as long and as severely dangerous as Wilson’s deserve to be punished by the maximum extent of the law,” said Sheriff Mike Prendergast. “Both detectives and an innocent bystander nearly lost their lives that evening as a direct result of Wilson’s reckless actions.”
According to deputies, in November 2019, Wilson was stopped for a minor traffic violation, where he attempted to flee during the traffic stop.
During this incident, Wilson intentionally rammed a patrol car and then struck a detective, seriously injuring him, in his attempt to exit the parking lot.
The detective and his partner then fired their duty weapons, striking Wilson in the head, resulting in a non-life-threating injury.
While Wilson continued to flee from deputies, he struck a motorcyclist near the Sunoco gas station off W. Gulf-to-Lake Highway in Crystal River, causing significant injury to the motorcyclist.
After Wilson fled the scene of this crash on foot, deputies were quickly able to locate and arrest him at a family member’s house. Upon deputies searching the area Wilson fled in, they found approximately 3.54 grams of cocaine and 117 grams of marijuana.
Wilson was charged with:
- Attempted murder of a law enforcement officer
- Aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer
- Two counts of fleeing and eluding causing property damage
- Fleeing and eluding causing serious bodily injury
- Resisting with violence
- Possession of cocaine with intent to sell
- Possession of marijuana with intent to sell
- Possession of drug paraphernalia
- Resisting an officer without violence
Wilson was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences for each of the victims in this case.
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