Man sentenced after ramming Buncombe County deputy’s vehicle during chase

Jeffery Lane Gillespie, 42, pleaded guilty in Buncombe County on July 2, 2026, and was sentenced to 7 to 10 years in the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction after a chase that ended with him ramming a Buncombe County Sheriff patrol cruiser head-on.

Court records show Gillespie admitted felony flee to elude arrest with a motor vehicle, assault on a law enforcement officer causing physical injury, and habitual felon status. The sentence was imposed after prosecutors said the July 3, 2025, incident began with Gillespie trying to escape law enforcement at more than 100 miles per hour before he intentionally struck the deputy’s vehicle.

The crash placed the deputy directly in harm’s way and created a broader risk for anyone else on the road as the chase unfolded at highway speeds. A head-on impact with a patrol cruiser turns a traffic stop into a collision scene in seconds, with the force of a fleeing vehicle aimed at both the deputy and any nearby drivers or bystanders.

Records cited in the coverage say Gillespie had prior convictions that included assault with a deadly weapon and armed robbery. Those convictions, along with his habitual felon admission, raised the stakes of the case and helped shape the prison term that followed the guilty plea.

The sentence lands in a county that has seen other deputy-involved crashes and chase cases in recent years, keeping attention on how Buncombe County prosecutors handle assaultive flight from arrest. Gillespie’s case sends a clear message: when a suspect uses a vehicle as a weapon against law enforcement, prosecutors are treating that conduct as a serious violent felony, not a routine escape attempt.