A Cedartown man has been sentenced to 17 years for a violent carjacking of a woman in August 2012.
Rodney Scott Blankenship, 31, took the woman’s car at gunpoint on the evening of Aug. 31, 2012, according to U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates. During the carjacking, Blankenship twice pointed the gun at the woman’s boyfriend and pulled the trigger. The gun failed to discharge each time. The woman’s boyfriend called 911, and when police arrived, Blankenship fled in the woman’s car, ramming a Cedartown patrol car in the process. Blankenship then led police on a chase until he crashed. After crashing the vehicle he attempted to run away, but was caught.
“This Defendant showed no regard for who he might have injured or killed during his crime spree,” Yates said in a statement. “The violent carjacking and police chase started in northwest Georgia, and the significant sentence appropriately reflects the serious danger he caused to both citizens and police,” Yates said in an email.
Blankenship was sentenced to 17 years, four months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. He was convicted on Dec. 6, 2013, after he pleaded guilty.
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