Brownfield close to plea deal on attempted murder charge

An Atchison man charged with attempted second-degree murder of a Jackson County deputy during a March 2015 chase through three counties may enter a plea on re­duced charges, it was reported in Jackson County District Court.

Friday’s arraignment hearing for Ryan M. Brownfield, 25, who has also been charged in Jackson County with aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, ob­structing official duty and fleeing or attempting to elude a law en­forcement officer in connection with the March 2015 incident, was continued for two weeks at the re­quest of his attorney, Christopher Etzel of Onaga.

Etzel said that a plea negotation with Jackson County Attorney Shawna Miller was “close to a resolution” and asked District Court Judge Norbert Marek to de­lay the hearing for two weeks “to hash out a plea.” Marek granted Et­zel’s request and reslated the hear­ing for Friday, Sept. 9.

The charges against Brownfield stem from a chase that reportedly occurred on the afternoon of March 12, 2015, when an Atchison County deputy attempted to pull over a vehicle that had been re­ported stolen from an Atchison dealership. Brownfield was later identified as the driver of the stolen vehicle, which he drove into Jeffer­son County.

At that point, a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper took over pursuit of Brownfield and the vehicle, and the chase reportedly continued toward Topeka with speeds often exceed­ing 100 miles per hour. Valley Falls police reportedly attempted to use “stop sticks” to deflate the Nis­san’s tires, but it was reported that Brownfield avoided them by driv­ing into a ditch and back onto Kan­sas Highway 16 toward Denison.

A Jackson County deputy — re­portedly Dillon Frederick, accord­ing to Brownfield’s court file —placed another set of “stop sticks” on K-16 east of Denison, but Brownfield drove the Nissan off the road again in an apparent at­tempt to strike the deputy’s patrol car. The deputy was able to get out of the way and avoid injury, it was reported.

According to KHP, Brownfield turned the Nissan back onto K-16 toward Valley Falls, striking the pursuing KHP patrol car in the process. It was reported that the trooper driving the patrol car did not appear to be injured but was taken to Holton Community Hos­pital for examination and later re­leased.

As the Nissan crossed back into Jefferson County, a deputy from that county was able to force it off the roadway, and Brownfield bolted from the vehicle, which had reportedly been damaged from the crash with the KHP patrol car.

A KHP canine unit was able to appre­hend Brownfield shortly af­terward, and he was taken to the Atchison County Jail, where it was reported he was held on theft charges in lieu of $20,000 bond in connection with another incident that same day in Atchison. He was transferred the following July to the Jackson County Detention Center, where he is currently being held on $250,000 cash or surety bond.