45 year old Anthony Horn was convicted and sentenced to 30 years for evading arrest from Bryan police.
The February 2017 chase in Bryan, which began with a traffic stop for speeding, ended in a crash with Horn’s car on the sidewalk facing oncoming traffic, and the left front tire and part of the front axle torn away from the vehicle.
At the time of his arrest, Horn was on parole for the murder of an inmate inside the Connally Unit prison in 1998.
And according to online court records, Horn was convicted in 1992 of armed robbery in Burleson County.
A statement from Uber did not have information about Horn’s employment history with the ride sharing company, or an explanation of how Uber did not know about Horn’s convictions.
Statement from Uber:
“We are diligently looking into this with our third party accredited background check company to understand all aspects of this situation. Uber’s screening process includes the search of all national, state and local databases, in addition to court and conviction records available at the county and state level.”
News release from the Brazos County district attorney’s office:
Anthony Horn, 45, was sentenced to 30 years in prison Wednesday for Evading in a Vehicle.
On February 11, 2017, Horn was stopped by a Bryan Police officer at Villa Maria and 29th Street for speeding. When the officer approached the vehicle, he could smell marijuana coming from
inside.
When the officer asked Horn to step out of the vehicle, Horn sped off and attempted to evade the officer. Another officer tried to stop Horn, but had to slow down due to the danger of the speed Horn was travelling.
Officers soon located Horn because he had wrecked at the intersection of Villa Maria and Nash Street after nearly striking a car that was stopped on Nash Street waiting to turn left. The driver of that vehicle testified at trial that she saw the car coming at her very fast and believed that he was going to hit her.
When officers arrived on scene, Horn’s car was on the sidewalk facing oncoming traffic, and the force of the impact had torn the left front tire and part of the axle from the vehicle.
At trial, jurors heard from both officers who testified that Horn was driving at a high rate of speed in his attempt to get away. Jurors also heard a recording of Horn talking about the offense, and admitting that he had to crash out because he almost hit the vehicle stopped on Nash Street.
During the punishment phase, prosecutors presented evidence of Horn’s prior conviction for Murder. A Deputy U.S. Marshal testified that while Horn was incarcerated in a high security section of the Connally Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, he used a prison-made weapon to repeatedly stab another inmate to death.
At the time of the murder, Horn was serving a prison sentence for Possession of Cocaine.
Evidence was also presented that Horn, who was employed as an Uber driver at the time of this offense, was still on parole for the murder when he evaded officers.
Evading with a Vehicle is a third degree felony, but due to Horn’s criminal history the punishment range was increased.