Defendant Resentenced to Over Seventeen Years in Prison for Assaulting Federal Officers
Williams Rammed U.S. Marshals’ Vehicles With His Cadillac Escalade
and Tried to Push One Deputy’s Vehicle Into I-285 Traffic
ROME, GA - TYWAN WILLIAMS, 33, of Durham, North Carolina, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Robert L. Vining, Jr. to serve over 17 years in federal prison on charges of assaulting federal officers using a deadly weapon in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 111(a) and (b).
“The U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force deputies risk their lives every time they set out to arrest fugitives from justice,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates. “This defendant, who was wanted for a homicide in North Carolina, chose to resist arrest with all of his might by using his vehicle as a deadly weapon to repeatedly assault and endanger the deputies who were closing in on him.”
WILLIAMS was sentenced to 17 years, 6 months in prison to be followed by 3 years of supervised release. WILLIAMS was convicted of these charges on November 19, 2008, after a 3-day jury trial.
According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court: In 2005, WILLIAMS was charged with homicide in Durham, North Carolina, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Later that year, WILLIAMS contacted the Durham Police Department, confirmed that he knew about the warrant for his arrest, and indicated that he would make arrangements for his surrender. WILLIAMS did not surrender as promised, and the U.S. Marshals Service’s Fugitive Task Force took on the responsibility for locating and arresting WILLIAMS.
On January 12, 2007, officers of the Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force (Fugitive Task Force) positively identified WILLIAMS at the BP Gas Station located at 5500 Northside Drive in Sandy Springs, Georgia. Fugitive Task Force officers arranged to block WILLIAMS’ 2007 Cadillac Escalade with Fugitive Task Force vehicles in order to contain and arrest WILLIAMS, who noticed them approach and attempted to flee in his vehicle. One Deputy U.S. Marshal, who was entering the parking area of the gas station, activated his emergency lights and drove his Dodge Durango up along the right side of WILLIAMS’ Escalade in an attempt to block WILLIAMS’ vehicle. In an effort to escape, WILLIAMS spun his Escalade around, hit, and ripped off the back-bumper of the Deputy’s vehicle. Undaunted, WILLIAMS drove forward and struck a Ford F-150 driven by second Deputy and a Ford Expedition occupied by two more Deputies, as the Deputies attempted to block the exits from the gas station with their vehicles. After hitting all these vehicles, WILLIAMS managed to escape from the parking lot onto Northside Drive.
WILLIAMS then drove the wrong way down a one-way street toward I-285 westbound. Several task force vehicles pursued WILLIAMS with their emergency lights and sirens activated. As WILLIAMS reached and turned left onto the ramp for Interstate 285, the Deputy U.S. Marshal who was closest to WILLIAMS’ vehicle, turned left onto the ramp, pulled alongside the left side of the Escalade, and attempted a maneuver with his vehicle to stop WILLIAMS’ vehicle. WILLIAMS countered the maneuver by pushing the Deputy’s vehicle all the way to the left of the roadway in an attempt to knock the Deputy off the roadway and down an embankment into the oncoming traffic on I-285. While keeping one hand on the steering wheel and using his vehicle to attempt to push WILLIAMS’ vehicle against the concrete wall of the ramp, the same Deputy fired shots into WILLIAMS’ vehicle, hitting WILLIAMS in the eye. WILLIAMS’ Escalade stopped at the bottom of the ramp in the area where the ramp merged with the interstate. Although serious, WILLIAMS’ injuries were not life-threatening.
This case was investigated by the United States Marshals Service.
Assistant United States Attorney Bret R. Williams prosecuted the case.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Information Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the HomePage for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.justice.gov/usao/gan.
