A man who intentionally rammed into a Fort Worth police officer trying to stop a chase was sentenced to life in prison on Monday.
Officer Matthew Brazeal suffered serious injuries when Ronnie Jackson mowed him down in June 2020. Brazeal was out of his patrol car trying to deploy stop sticks when he was hit.
Stop sticks, aka spike strips, is a device thrown into the roadway by a police officer to puncture and flatten car tires with the hopes of bringing a pursuit to an end. As a chase approaches, an officer on foot tosses the device into the roadway just before the driver arrives.
Jackson was found guilty of hitting Brazeal in a collision that had him dragging the officer's body more than 100 feet.
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Brazeal was hospitalized for several weeks and continues recovering from his injuries. The officer returned to light duty just last week, nearly four years after being hit.
Brazeal is a veteran of the United States Army and at the time of the collision was a three-year veteran of the Fort Worth Police Department. He previously served as a law enforcement officer in Parker County and Weatherford.
