Willard’s Hurt charged with vehicle tampering, other crimes after chase

Suspect found by drone, tased during Christmas incident
A Willard man was taken into custody on Christmas Day after he allegedly stole a vehicle and refused to stop for law enforcement officers. Courtenay Lynn Hurt, 39, is charged with first degree vehicle tampering, resisting a lawful stop and second degree property damage.
According to the probable cause statement in the case, a Greene County deputy sheriff reported that he attempted to stop a stolen vehicle that Hurt was driving at 2005 E. Kearney in Springfield. The deputy said that Hurt refused to stop and jumped a curb while entering a Walmart parking lot. He also reported that a passenger in the car jumped out before Hurt entered the parking lot. The passenger was arrested according to the probable cause statement, but not named.
Chase continues
Hurt continued to evade law enforcement in the parking lot, the deputy said, and turned west on Evergreen, passing stopped traffic at speeds of 50 miles per hour before driving through a locked Springfield property gate and abandoning the car near the northeast corner of Doling Park. The car chase, the deputy stated, went for a total of 2.47 miles and “placed members of the public at grave risk for serious injury.”
After abandoning the car, the deputy stated, Hurt ran westward into a residential neighborhood. He was located by a drone utilized by the Springfield Police Department and the Greene County Sheriff’s Office, and then attempted to run from officers but was tased behind a shed on North Campbell.
No date had been set for Hurt to appear in court as of press time, and he remained in the Greene County Jail where he was being held without bond.