Lorain man who fled police, caused wrong-way crash in 2025 gets 6 years prison

ELYRIA — A convicted felon from Lorain who hit another vehicle head-on while fleeing police last year and illegally possessed a firearm was sentenced Wednesday to six years in prison. Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Raymond Ewers sentenced Terrence Jackson, 39, of Fillmore Avenue, to prison and ordered him to pay nearly $1,000 in restitution to two victims. Jackson received credit for 304 days already served in jail awaiting trial. He had previously pleaded guilty to having weapons under disability, failure to comply, vehicular assault and improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle, all felonies plus firearms specifications and a misdemeanor driving under suspension charge. Citing Jackson's lengthy criminal history, Assistant Lorain County Prosecutor Daniellela Leigh asked Ewers to give Jackson close the maximum prison term for the crimes, or 16½ years. "The nature of these offenses, the defendant's criminal history, his continuous, ongoing accumulation of more cases ... I think demonstrates the necessity and severity of the need to remove him from the community and incarcerate him as long as possible," Leigh said in court. Defense attorney Amanda Tilton asked for a sentence closer to the minimum the law allowed. The victims in the crash declined to speak at his sentencing. Jackson still apologized to them in court. "I just want to say I'm sorry to the victims," he said. "I'm just glad that everybody overcame the situation and everybody's OK. I'm truly sorry." Elyria police tried to stop Jackson's black Jeep Wrangler just after 2 p.m. June 26 and arrest him on a felony domestic violence warrant. He also was a suspect in several drive-by shootings, police and prosecutors said. Jackson fled from police, drove recklessly on Elyria streets, got onto state Route 2 going the wrong way and kept speeding even after officers called off the pursuit, according to the Prosecutor's Office. He then hit another car head-on, injuring the couple inside as well as himself. Police found a loaded handgun at the crash scene. Jackson isn't allowed to have guns due to prior felony convictions for robbery, attempted burglary, domestic violence, receiving stolen property, DUI, drug trafficking, drug possession and attempted aggravated assault in cases from 2006 to 2021, according to the Prosecutor's Office. In a motion she filed with the court, Leigh called Jackson's driving record "equally offensive" to his criminal record. His traffic history includes 35 convictions since 2012 and "indicates that (Jackson) has likely never held a valid driver's license," Leigh wrote. Jackson has multiple charges still pending against him in Common Pleas Court. The Prosecutor's Office said they include: having weapons under disability and improper discharge of firearms in a June 2025 drive-by shooting on Parmely Avenue in Elyria. Jackson allegedly recorded the shooting on video and sent the recording to the intended victim. felonious assault, improper discharge of a firearm and having weapons under disability in an April 2025 drive-by shooting in which Jackson shot a woman in a garage in the buttocks, leaving the bullet lodged in her body. felony domestic violence and failure to comply for allegedly assaulting a pregnant woman he was in a relationship, then fleeing police in March 2025. felonious assault for allegedly stabbing another man in Lorain in July 2024 during a dispute over a $40 cocaine deal; tampering with evidence and drug possession charges in a July 2024 case in which Jackson allegedly hid crack cocaine and pills in his rectum; and trafficking in cocaine in a December 2023 case in which 12.5 grams of suspected drugs were seized. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Contact Bruce Bishop at bishop1212@gmail.com.