A man who led Juneau police on a high-speed car chase in late 2016 claimed he was frightened by Nazi SS officers. He was sentenced to probation Monday in Juneau Superior Court as part of a plea deal.
Cecil Trent Yeisley, 24, must serve three years on probation for felony assault and a misdemeanor charge of failure to stop for a police officer.
The night before the police chase, Yeisley allegedly threatened property with a machete. Police responded, Tasered him and took him to Bartlett Regional Hospital for a mental health emergency.
Yeisley’s public defender, Eric Hedland, said that incident lead to the underlying arrest. Hedland read from a prepared statement.
“He was not supervised properly and was able to simply walk away. Eventually he arrived at his father’s residence downtown,” Hedland read. “His mother picked him up the following morning to bring him back to Bartlett.”
Hedland said when he saw an officer, his client feared being arrested and Tasered again. Yeisley’s mother tried to stop him from driving away, and even reached into the car to hold him.
Assistant District Attorney Bailey Woolfstead said the defendant was experiencing extreme mental health difficulties.
“She was trying to get him help. His reaction was to push her out of a moving vehicle to lead police officers on a high-speed chase … because according to him — this man, this SS officer who had a gun and was threatening him — he had to kill someone, or he was going to die,” Woolfstead said.
Superior Court Judge Philip M. Pallenberg said it was a scary and serious situation for all parties, including the defendant.
“Whether it’s a mental health problem whether it’s an addiction drug problem, or whether it’s something else … the people who were frightened or placed at risk, it doesn’t make them feel any better about what happened to know that you were not in your right mind at the time.”
Yeisley’s lawyer said his client plans to move to Ketchikan to live with his grandmother and seek mental health counseling. Other family members sat in court during the sentencing.
He must have a mental health evaluation within 90 days and mental health counseling or treatment. He was also ordered to not drink alcohol, or go into a bar or liquor store without permission from his probation officer.
If he violates his probation, he may have to serve the remainder of a four-and-a-half-year sentence. Yeisley has already served a year and a half jail time.
Other charges were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
KTOO’s Matt Miller contributed to this report.
