Former Officer Brian Arterburn, wife on guilty plea: ‘Our justice has been served’
The man who ran over Wichita police Officer Brian Arterburn with an SUV nearly two years ago pleaded guilty to five charges on Wednesday, bringing to a close a court hearing that was abruptly stopped Tuesday afternoon.
Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said Tuesday’s proceedings were halted because 32-year-old Justin Terrazas and prosecutors “weren’t on the same page” about the length of the recommended prison stay laid out in his plea agreement. Attorneys will ask Sedgwick County District Judge Bruce Brown to send Terrazas to prison for almost 28 1/2 years when he is sentenced on Jan. 30, Bennett told reporters after the plea hearing was over Wednesday.
Prosecutors also plan to ask an Ellsworth County court to revoke the probation Terrazas was serving in a case there at the time he hit Arterburn and tack on an additional 11 years of prison time. Judges often follow attorneys recommendations for sentencing in plea agreements but they don’t have to.
Bennett said it’s fairly common for defendants to change their minds about pleading guilty after their deals are worked out or to misunderstand the terms of their plea agreements.
Court stops when that happens, he said.
“Something was not clear” for Terrazas on Tuesday, Bennett said. The hearing was postponed for a day because “we wanted to do this right . . . for Brian and his family.”
Defense attorney Mark Sevart said after court that Terrazas is sorry and he thought that “it’s really best for everyone involved that the matter’s resolved.”
Dressed in green jail garb and restraints, Terrazas pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated battery, two counts of possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute it, one count of possession of drug paraphernalia with intention to distribute, and one count of fleeing from or attempting to elude law enforcement. The pleas resolved two criminal cases.
“If we could turn back the clock and do things differently, we would,” Sevart said. He called the sentence Terrazas will receive hefty.
“He’s very remorseful about the entire event and hopefully it (the guilty plea) brings peace to everybody.”
Now retired, Brian Arterburn was trying to place a tire deflation device on the pavement at Topeka and Kincaid to stop Terrazas’ fleeing SUV when it ran him over on Feb. 7, 2017. The SUV had been reported stolen by Eddy’s Chevrolet Cadillac just hours before the collision after officers saw it parked in the driveway of a home they were staking out and called the dealership to ask about it.
When Terrazas left the house in the SUV that afternoon, police followed him. Terrazas hit Arterburn after he swerved to miss a parked car then sped away, driving 100 mph at times. He was arrested after he ran from the SUV into a machine shop on Pawnee. Officers found drug pipes, a digital scale and drugs in the SUV during a search.
Arterburn suffered profound and disabling injuries, including brain trauma, and spent months in recovery.
He was jovial Wednesday after the hearing’s conclusion, smiling and shaking hands of people who were still in the courtroom after deputies escorted Terrazas out.
He walked up to the judge’s bench, extended a palm to Brown and told him thanks for his service.
Brown returned the greeting.
Several uniformed police officers, including Arterburn’s wife, were beside him throughout.
After the courtroom cleared, the couple spoke briefly with reporters. They said they wanted to thank prosecutors, police and the community for their support and work on the case.
“We are pleased and feel like our justice has been served,” Claudale Arterburn said.
Brian Arterburn said he was grateful to the citizens of Wichita for their prayers and asked people to continue saying hi to him when they see him out and about.
“Because I love it.”
This story was originally published November 14, 2018 at 4:59 PM.