Two men convicted Thursday for their part in a 2013 shootout with Atlanta police were sentenced Monday to 10 and 12 years in prison, according to Channel 2 Action News.
Derrick Newell, sentenced to 12 years in prison, and Marcellus White, sentenced to 10 years in prison, were convicted of aggravated assault on a peace officer, possession of a firearm during commission of a felony, terroristic acts and reckless conduct.
No one was hurt in the Dec. 19, 2013, gun battle that spanned an entire block of Parkway Drive between Ponce de Leon and North avenues, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported.
Two off-duty officers, who were working extra jobs in full Atlanta police uniform, were seated in a marked police vehicle in a Zaxby’s parking lot, according to the police report.
After the officers heard multiple gunshots coming from the area of Parkway Drive, they saw a black four-door sedan backing northbound on Parkway Drive at a rapid rate of speed.
Police said at least one of the occupants was shooting back down the road. When the occupants of the sedan saw the police car, they started shooting at it.
One of those officers, Robert Godwin, told Channel 2 he watched the men hesitate before deciding to fire at police.
A third suspect got away, Godwin said.
Fulton County Assistant District Attorney Clint Rucker told Channel 2 he thought the judge wanted to send a message with the sentences.
“The community is tired of the violence and they want it to stop,” Rucker said.
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