Cherokee County man gets 13 years in prison for shooting at deputy during chase
A man accused of firing more than a dozen shots at a Cherokee County deputy during a high-speed pursuit is headed to prison.
Joseph Leon Donaldson, 38, pleaded guilty Monday in connection with the August 2018 chase and shooting, the Cherokee County District Attorney’s Office said. The Waleska man was given a 30-year sentence with 13 years to serve behind bars.
The incident began shorty before 4 a.m. on Aug. 23 when Detective Tom Harris tried to pull over Donaldson’s Chevrolet Blazer in northern Cherokee. Donaldson refused to stop, leading the deputy on a 90-mph chase through Waleska as he weaved back and forth across the road, authorities said.
While traveling north on Salacoa Road, Donaldson pulled out a 9 mm handgun and fired between 13 and 15 shots at Harris’ cruiser, prosecutors said. He escaped to Pickens County, where he hid his SUV in some woods behind a home.
Neither Harris nor his cruiser were struck by the rounds Donaldson fired.
Donaldson was arrested later that day after authorities in Pickens located him in a Dodge pickup truck, authorities said.
“Luckily, Deputy Harris was able to go home to his wife and family after the incident,” said Assistant DA Robert Fickett, who prosecuted the case. “This wasn’t one shot, two shots, three shots. This defendant unloaded a barrage of bullets at this officer.”
Donaldson pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated assault on a police officer, fleeing or attempting to elude police, obstruction of an officer and discharging a gun near a highway or street. His guilty plea came moments before jury selection was set to begin in his trial.
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