KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City, Missouri, man pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of forcibly resisting federal law enforcement officers related to an incident which injured two United States deputy marshals.
On Dec. 30, 2020, law enforcement officers located 46-year-old Ray E. Clevenger for a state felony arrest warrant at a Quality Inn in Kansas City, according to a release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Clevenger left his hotel room at around noon and got into a stolen Ford Explorer with a woman. Officers flashed their lights and sirens as they approached Clevenger in the parking lot.
Clevenger proceeded to quickly accelerate out of the parking spot and struck the front of a police vehicle. He attempted to escape while "recklessly driving the Explorer at a high rate of speed," according to the release.
A federal deputy marshal then attempted to prevent Clevenger from exiting the parking lot by placing his vehicle in front of the exit and striking the Explorer, which caused Clevenger to lose control of the vehicle.
After he regained control of the car, Clevenger fled across the hotel's lawn and sidewalk, and another deputy marshal struck the Explorer on the passenger rear wheel to prevent Clevenger's escape.
"Clevenger continued to flee and returned to the west side of the property, where he rammed one of the police vehicles for the second time with enough force to push the SUV into a fence that surrounded the parking lot," the release said. "Clevenger pushed the police vehicle with enough force that it also struck another police vehicle, which in turn struck a deputy marshal who was on foot. Clevenger’s vehicle then stopped and he was arrested."
Inside the stolen car, officers found a Springfield .40-caliber semi-automatic handgun, loaded with an extended magazine, that had been reported stolen, a makeup case that had 69 grams of methamphetamine and marijuana and other drug paraphernalia.
Both deputy marshals suffered physical injuries as a result of Clevenger's driving. One of the deputy marshals was treated by emergency medical officials at the scene, while the other was provided medical care and "instructed to seek follow-up medical care."
Clevenger pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to both counts of forcibly resisting federal law enforcement Wednesday.
A sentencing hearing has not been scheduled, but it will be after an investigation by the United States Probation Office is completed.
Clevenger could face up to 20 years in prison without the possibility of parole on each of the two counts.
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