Springfield man sentenced on weapons charge, man arrested after driving through back yard, slamming into house

(From the U. S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri)

A Springfield, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for illegally possessing firearms following a high-speed police chase that ended when he drove through a back yard and crashed into a residence.

Randall Hale, 43, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to nine years in prison without parole.

On Jan. 9, 2018, Hale pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. According to court documents, Greene County sheriff’s deputies found Hale passed out behind the steering wheel of a stolen Chevrolet truck at 5092 W. Sunshine St., Springfield, on Nov. 21, 2016. Deputies parked behind the truck, got out of their vehicles and approached the truck. As one of the deputies approached the passenger window, Hale put the truck into reverse and slammed into another deputy’s patrol vehicle. Hale then drove over a sidewalk and struck a building before leaving the parking lot.

Hale fled eastbound on Sunshine Street at about 85 miles per hour with additional law enforcement officers in pursuit. The chase continued to a backyard on South Newton Street, where Hale crashed the truck into the residence. Hale ran from his vehicle and was apprehended a short distance away by Springfield police officers.

During a search of the stolen truck, officers found a loaded Springfield Arms Company .45-caliber pistol, a loaded Browning Arms Company 7mm rifle and a loaded O.F. Mossberg and Sons .243-caliber rifle, all of which had been reported stolen, as well as multiple rounds of ammunition.

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearms or ammunition. Hale has prior felony convictions for vandalism, burglary, grand theft, petit theft, receiving stolen property, and sale of marijuana. He was on probation at the time of the federal offense.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by the Greene County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Springfield, Mo., Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.