A Charleston man admitted Monday to ramming two vehicles in January, including the SUV of a Kanawha Sheriff's deputy.
Brian Edward Spencer, 35, pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted murder and to a misdemeanor charge of destruction of property. He told a judge he was high on methamphetamine, hadn't slept in days and didn't remember the incident.
Assistant Kanawha Prosecutor Zoe Shavers said Spencer, "drove that car violently" toward Cpl. A.J. Miller, with the Kanawha Sheriff's Office, and Wendy Sullivan, Spencer's sister-in-law. Spencer, who had been arguing with family members at a house on Falcon Drive, took off in his girlfriend's Toyota Camry, according to Shavers. He hit a vehicle parked in the driveway when he left.
Once away from the house, he began sending threats to family members, who called police. Miller and another deputy responded.
While Miller was speaking with Sullivan, the deputy noticed headlights in the distance and turned on his cruiser's blue flashing lights, the prosecutor said.
Spencer "revved his engine and gunned the gas" and drove toward Miller and Sullivan, Shavers said. Miller was injured and taken to a hospital and Sullivan barely got out of the way, the prosecutor said.
Spencer was sentenced Monday to spend three to 15 years in prison for each count of the attempted murder charge. Those sentences will run at the same time. After he completes that prison sentence, he must serve one year in South Central Regional Jail for the destruction of property charge.
The deal Spencer entered into Monday was binding, which means it depended on Kanawha Circuit Judge James Stucky's approval.
As part of the deal, prosecutors agreed not to file an additional charge against Spencer for having a lengthy criminal history.
That criminal history is what Miller told the judge he is worried about.
"Mr. Spencer has an extensive violent criminal history, " the deputy said. "My concern is when Mr. Spencer gets released again, next time he will end up victimizing the people of Kanawha County again, as he has done in the past."
Spencer told the judge that he regrets his actions and blamed his addiction to drugs.
"I've not had a clean past or anything," Spencer said, before being taken back to jail. "I'm a dope addict. There's nothing I can do to take back that night - what's done is done. I do regret that night."
Matthew Victor, Spencer's attorney, asked the judge to require that drug treatment be part of his prison stay. Stucky said it would be.
Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.