A Kaufman County man who led police on a 20-mile chase through a stolen 18-wheeler has been sentenced to 30 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Donny Dewayne Adams was convicted of evading arrest with a vehicle and theft of property valued at $30,000 to $150,000, stemming from an April 4 incident that began in Gun Barrel City and ended miles away in Van Zandt County.
According to KLTV, Adams was sentenced last week following the conviction. Gun Barrel City police officers had responded to West Main Street after receiving a report of a stolen 18-wheeler, and found the truck parked behind a business, engine running, with Adams inside the cab. The truck had reportedly been stolen several days earlier.
Officers Removed Keys, But Truck Had Been Hotwired
Police said Adams refused to get out of the truck when ordered, then drove away as officers tried to stop him. The station's earlier report on the case noted that officers had actually managed to remove the keys from the ignition, but the truck had been hotwired, allowing Adams to flee anyway.
What followed was a pursuit spanning more than 20 miles, carrying the chase out of Gun Barrel City and into neighboring Van Zandt County before it finally ended. Per the earlier account, the pursuit came to a stop near County Road 2514 and County Road 2517, with the Van Zandt County Sheriff's Office and Kaufman County Sheriff's Office both helping bring the truck to a halt, as reported by KETK. Police arrested Adams there in Van Zandt County.
Second Arrest and an Ongoing Case
Adams, 52, was arrested alongside 57-year-old Barbie Renee McKinley, also of Kaufman County; the two were held at Henderson County Jail on unknown bonds for multiple charges, the same KLTV report from April noted. At the time, CBS19 reported the investigation was still ongoing, and the initial arrest report listed the theft charge as property valued at more than $2,500 but less than $30,000 — a figure that differs from the $30,000-to-$150,000 valuation cited in the later sentencing coverage. The dossier does not explain the discrepancy between the two reported valuations.
Adams Was Already on Parole for the Same Offense
Court records cited in the sentencing report show Adams was already on parole for evading arrest or detention in a vehicle at the time of the April arrest. He also carries an extensive criminal history, including multiple felony theft convictions across Dallas, Tarrant, Van Zandt and Ellis counties, according to the same report. Adams additionally had convictions for unauthorized use of a vehicle in Dallas and Kaufman counties, along with an assault conviction.
Under Texas law, evading arrest or detention becomes a criminal offense when a person intentionally flees from someone they know to be a peace officer lawfully attempting to arrest or detain them, according to the Texas Constitution and Statutes. For Adams, it marks at least the second time that specific charge has followed him through the courts.
