Repeat offender gets life in prison
NEW BOSTON, Texas—A Bowie County jury sentenced a repeat offender to life in prison Tuesday after finding him guilty of evading police in a vehicle.
Benjamin Williams, 53, was arrested May 20, 2016, after leading Texarkana, Texas, police on a chase that began with Williams driving east on West 15th Street, where officers first attempted to stop him. With several police cruisers behind him, Williams drove to Milam Street, where he traveled south before turning onto Martin Luther King Boulevard and continuing as it merged with Seventh Street, finally coming to a stop on a nearby street. Officers found a 5.5-inch knife in Williams’ back pocket and a loose rock of suspected crack cocaine in the driver’s seat.
Williams was offered a chance to plead guilty to the offense and serve a 10-year prison sentence. Evading arrest or detention in a vehicle is a third-degree felony punishable by two to 10 years in prison. Williams rejected the plea offer.
When it became clear the case would be going to trial, prosecutors filed notice of their intent to enhance the punishment range Williams faced based on prior felony convictions. Previous criminal conduct allowed the state to increase the punishment range to 25 to 99 years or life in prison.
Named in the enhancement notice are prior convictions for attempted rape and possession of a dirk or dagger that Williams received in California in 1985 and 2004 respectively. According to Wikipedia, a dirk
is a thrusting dagger.
Records show Williams was also charged in California with attempted forcible oral copulation at the same time as attempted rape. Assistant District Attorney Katie Carter, who prosecuted the case with First Assistant District Attorney Mike Shepherd, said Williams also has prior convictions for robbery, terroristic threatening and drug possession.
Williams is serving a term of probation in Miller County, Ark., for drug possession, and a motion to revoke probation is pending. Williams has pending cases in Bowie County for drug possession and driving while intoxicated, Carter said.
The jury heard testimony during the punishment phase of trial concerning Williams’ criminal history. After hearing instructions on the law from 202nd District Judge John Tidwell, the jury deliberated and returned with a life sentence.
“This defendant is a habitual offender who showed total disregard for the law for over three decades,” Shepherd said. “Our jury made it clear that his criminal conduct will no longer be tolerated in our community.”