Columbia man pleads guilty to guns charge

A Columbia man who was involved in a December 2017 police chase pleaded guilty Tuesday to illegally having a gun.

According to a release sent by the Western District attorney’s office, Justin Craig Ewing, 30, was the passenger in the car that Jeremy Wade Gerlach was driving as police persued him. Police pulled in behind the parked vehicle at the Days Inn Motel at 900 I-70 Drive Southwest. Officers approached the vehicle on foot, and Gerlach fled in the vehicle through a grassy area next to the motel.

The vehicle eventually crashed into an electric pole, and an officer blocked the vehicle in so it could not be reversed, the release said. When officers approached the vehicle, the windows were rolled up and the doors were locked. An officer used a baton to break the window and pulled Gerlach from the vehicle, according to the district attorney.

Officers found two guns in the car during their search. Ewing had been convicted of four felonies and was not allowed to have a gun.

Gerlach pleaded guilty on Oct. 9, 2018, to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Ewing and Gerlach face up to 10 years in prison.

Sign up for email news alerts by clicking here