KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City, Missouri, man was sentenced Wednesday to nine years in federal prison without the possibility of parole for illegally possessing a firearm following a high-speed chase with police officers through oncoming traffic.
Kyle K. Kessler, 35, pleaded guilty in October to being a convicted felon possessing a semi-automatic pistol during a high-speed chase with Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department officers, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.
On Dec. 18, 2019, KCPD officers were attempting to stop Kessler because he was driving a stolen Chevrolet 2500 pickup truck, but Kessler refused to stop.
Kessler crashed into several police vehicles while fleeing the area at a high speed, according to the release.
Court documents said that Kessler was driving the stolen truck at a speed averaging 80 miles per hour up to 100 miles per hour. He ran two stoplights, weaved into oncoming traffic, drove through a school zone without slowing and then lost control of the car, striking a concrete pillar.
Two KCPD officers parked their vehicles behind the wrecked truck.
"Kessler put the pickup in reverse and accelerated rapidly toward one of the officers. The officer dove out of the path of the truck, which struck the officer’s police car and pushed it back," the release said. "Kessler continued accelerating into another officer’s vehicle. After striking both police cars, Kessler struck a guardrail and stopped."
Two more officers used their vehicles to prevent Kessler from fleeing. Kessler would not cooperate with officers, so they broke the passenger window of the truck and pulled him out.
Officers found a loaded gun in Kessler's jacket pocket.
It is illegal for a felon to possess a firearm under federal law. Kessler has 11 prior felony convictions, including tampering with a motor vehicle, burglary of a motor vehicle, tampering with an airplane or motorboat, theft, resisting arrest and fraudulent use of a credit device.
