A Burneyville man convicted of severely injuring an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper during a high-speed pursuit has been sentenced to more than 22 years in prison. Lareme Neil Hartman, 41, was found guilty on 11 charges connected to the chase, which left Trooper Hayden Darst with fractured vertebrae and a broken foot, ankle and ribs.
According to KTEN, court documents show Hartman will spend 22 years and seven months in prison after a jury found him guilty on 11 charges tied to the pursuit, which occurred last September. A separate account from KXII, however, states that court records show Hartman was sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison. The discrepancy between the two figures has not been independently resolved.
Hartman's convictions included several counts of endangering others while eluding, along with driving under the influence of drugs and drug possession charges, the station's report notes. The sentences tied to his two drug convictions will run concurrently, and he will receive credit for time already served, per the same account.
How the Chase Began at a Walmart
The pursuit did not start as a high-speed chase at all. It began in the Walmart parking lot when Ardmore police responded to a shoplifting call, according to a report from KXII covering the case's trial. That same outlet's earlier coverage of the case's August trial pinpointed the date the chase began as Sept. 17.
What followed turned deadly serious fast. The pursuit ended on U.S. 77 when a trooper attempted a tactical vehicle intervention, and authorities said Hartman turned into the trooper, triggering the crash that injured Darst, the station reported in its account of the trial. KTEN's more recent reporting places the fiery wreck at the intersection of U.S. 77 and Cisco Road in Ardmore, though a separate report from News 9 had earlier stated that the crash happened along I-35 as troopers began pursuing Hartman. The two accounts of the crash site have not been reconciled.
A Jury's Verdict and a Trooper's Recovery
A Carter County jury found Hartman guilty in August, determining he had caused great bodily injury while eluding or attempting to elude police. The conviction came after jurors weighed evidence connected to the pursuit and crash that left Darst with the serious injuries described in court records.
The case reflects a broader pattern seen across Oklahoma, where a cited report found the state ranks eighth highest nationally for pursuit-related deaths, with traffic infractions or property crimes prompting the vast majority of chases examined, according to a report from Herald & Review. That same outlet's reporting on who gets hurt in Oklahoma police chases found that roughly one in four deaths in such pursuits involve innocent motorists rather than the fleeing suspects themselves.
