A Little Torch Key man is heading to state prison for fleeing law enforcement officers in two separate cases

KEY WEST, May 6, 2020 – Shawn Meehan, 29, was sentenced April 30 by Monroe County Circuit Court Judge Mark Jones to 22 months in custody in one case and 18 months in another; the sentences will run concurrently. Assistant State Attorney Cristy Spottswood represented the state.

He received the 22 months after admitting to violating probation in a 2018 case in which he had pleaded no contest to fleeing a marked patrol car and fleeing or eluding law enforcement officers and had received 24 months of probation. The 18-month sentence was imposed after he pleaded no contest to fleeing from law enforcement, driving with a suspended license and resisting arrest without violence in a 2019 case.

In the 2018 case, on November 21 that year, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputies were called to a Little Torch Key home about a disturbance. The resident told them he had kicked people out of his house the day before, including his nephew, and he had returned and was causing a disturbance in the driveway. As a deputy arrived, the resident pointed to two men, one his nephew and the other Meehan. Meehan was in the driver’s seat of a pickup truck and the nephew was standing near it.

The deputy, who knew both from previous contacts, approached. The nephew ignored him and went into the passenger side of the pickup. The deputy told them to get out but was ignored. When he approached Meehan at the driver’s side window, he sped off on State Road 4. The deputy called on his radio for assistance and another deputy saw the truck. Eventually, both deputies were able to pull the truck over and Meehan was arrested.

In the other case, on October 28, 2019, a deputy was parked near Walgreens on Big Pine Key, saw a southbound Nissan Altima with no tail lights or tag light and pulled out behind it. The Nissan, with Meehan behind the wheel, turned onto 1st Street. The deputy activated his emergency lights but Meehan did not stop, instead turning onto several different streets. When he got to Father Tony Way, he stopped, exited the car and ran. The deputy chased him into a trailer park and ordered Meehan to stop but he refused and kept running.

He was finally taken into custody when he tried to jump a fence and was tased. When in custody, he denied being behind the wheel of the Nissan. But the officer never lost sight of him during the chase and identified him as the driver of the car.

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