Pennsylvania: Guilty plea after troopers struck by car
A Burlington County man who hit two state troopers with a car while trying to escape an arrest in 2014 pleaded guilty Tuesday to drug and weapons-related charges, authorities said.
Juan Gutierrez-Valencia, 25, of Pemberton Township, pleaded to possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, unlawful possession of a handgun, and obstructing the administration of law in Superior Court in Mount Holly.
The two troopers Gutierrez-Valencia struck were treated for minor injuries but not hospitalized during the incident, which occurred at a hotel along Fellowship Road in Mount Laurel on July 7, 2014. Gutierrez-Valencia also was treated for a graze wound to his arm from a separate trooper who shot him during the incident.
Authorities said it began after Gutierrez-Valencia tried to sell crystal meth in a car to an undercover detective. When the detective saw the drugs, stepped out of the car, and alerted state police to move in, Gutierrez-Valencia tried to flee, the state Office of the Attorney General said.
Authorities captured him and found a stolen 9mm handgun, the attorney general's office said.
His arrest was part of a sting called "Operation Speed Racer" that the state police and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration conducted.
Four other men, three from New Egypt in Ocean County and the fourth from North Hanover in Burlington County, were arrested the day after the incident with Gutierrez-Valencia, and have pleaded guilty to drug charges.
Gutierrez-Valencia will be sentenced April 1 and faces up to 10 years in prison.
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