COURT NEWS UPDATE – SAYLOR’S PIZZA CRASH SENTENCING

By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent
NILES – The man who crashed into a Niles pizza parlor in late September was sentenced Monday in Berrien County Trial Court. Jaquon Deon Chestnut was sentenced to jail and to pay restitution in a yet to be determined amount.
Meanwhile, Monday’s felony sentencings also included the imposition of prison terms for four other defendants.
Chestnut, 22, of Chicago Heights, Ill.,

pleaded guilty to third degree fleeing and eluding police and resisting and obstructing police and was sentenced to two concurrent terms of 180 days in jail with credit for 104 days already served. He must pay $326 in fines and costs.
Restitution to Saylor’s Pizza and to the car rental company will be determined at a later date. The Saylor’s building was destroyed in the incident.
The incident began in Bertrand Township on Sept. 24 when a Berrien County Sheriff’s Office deputy was on patrol on US-12 and observed a vehicle driving at an excessive speed. The pursuit ended when Chestnut’s vehicle lost control attempting to negotiate a curve and crashed into Saylor’s Pizza in the 300 block of Lincoln Ave. in the City of Niles.
He sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was taken into custody without incident at the scene of the crash. The crash ignited a fire and caused significant structural damage to Saylor’s.
Defense attorney Carri Briseno noted that Chestnut has no prior criminal record and asked for probation and credit for time served. Chestnut said he had learned his lesson and was sorry for the actions he took. He said he fled police initially because he was scared and had no license.
“You made that choice and additional choices when the police officer came up behind you,” Berrien County Trial Court Judge Jennifer Smith said. “You are so lucky that no one was killed when you crashed and there was a fire.”
“You need to change the way you’re living your life,” she added. “It’s time to grow up and get a job. Everything you were doing on this day was wrong. You were driving 140 or 150 miles per hour and put others including officers at risk. This isn’t a good start to the rest of your life.”

Cordeleus Anthony Martin, 36, of Dowagiac, was found guilty of armed robbery, possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, assault with a dangerous weapon and three counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony after a jury trial earlier this fall.
Martin was sentenced to 15 years to 45 years in prison on the armed robbery charge, 24 months to five years on the firearm possession charge, 24 months to four years for the assault charge and consecutive two years in prison on the three felony firearms charges. He has credit for no time served and must pay $1,292 in fines, costs and restitution.
The incident occurred April 5, 2023 at Dale’s Mini-Mart in Niles Township. The Cass County incident for assault with intent to rob while armed that Martin was sentenced for earlier this year actually occurred after the Berrien County incident, on July 27, 2023 at the Stone Lake Marathon in Cassopolis.
Defense attorney Carri Briseno noted that Martin maintains his innocent in the Berrien County incident and is preparing to appeal his conviction.
Judge Smith noted that Martin was convicted by a jury after hearing all of the evidence. She said his past record includes two felonies and 14 misdemeanors. She pointed out that he committed two armed robberies in a short period of time and that the victim in this incident was terrified by what happened.
Dallas Mitchell Anderson, 58, of Plainwell, was found guilty of third offense drunk driving at a jury trial

earlier this year and was sentenced to 48 months in prison with credit for one day served. He must pay $198 in fines and costs.
The drunk driving incident occurred Jan. 9 in Niles Township. Police found his truck off the road in a ditch. His blood alcohol level was .195, more than twice the legal limit.
Anderson continues to maintain his innocence that he wasn’t driving that day and said he was sick that day and only had one drink. “I promised myself after I got out of prison that I would never get behind the wheel when I was drunk,” he said.
Judge Smith said she believes he was drinking and driving that day. “You said your took one drink to battle your illness, .195 is not one drink,” she said. “What you’re saying may feel like the truth but it doesn’t make sense. This is your seventh drunk driving, I have to make sure people are safe from you.”
Timothy Patrick James, 37, of Buchanan, pleaded guilty to fleeing and eluding police, unlawful driving away of an automobile and second offense domestic violence and was sentenced to concurrent terms of 24 months to 60 months and 18 months to 60 months in prison on the first two charges and credit for 298 days in jail for the domestic violence charge.
He must pay a total of $23,773.27 in fines, costs and restitution. The incident occurred May 3 in Buchanan.
Judge Smith noted that James was on parole out of Indiana at the time of the incident and his record includes a number of crimes against police such as fleeing and eluding and assaultive behavior. “I don’t think you’re a good candidate for probation,” she said. “I hope your mindset has changed, that would be great but I can’t ignore your record of crime.”

John Alan Johnson, 58, homeless, pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine and was sentenced to 12 months to 10 years in prison. He has not credit for time served because he was on parole and was ordered to pay $198 in fines and costs.
The incident occurred Sept. 23 in Niles.
He said he took full responsibility for his actions and said he made a bad choice to use drugs.
Judge Smith noted that Johnson’s record goes back to 1980. “This last time, you started your parole by absconding,” she said. “You didn’t want to take advantage of services when you were first on parole. You have 39 misdemeanor and 13 felony convictions, at some point there are no more excuses. You have had 44 years of criminal activity.”