Wichita man accused of kidnapping ex from Walmart parking lot sentenced to probation
A Wichita man will spend a year on probation for a string of crimes that started with the kidnapping of his former romantic partner during a midday meet up in a Walmart parking lot where the pair were supposed to trade property.
Police have said Carlton Francis Albertson grabbed the woman by the hair and forced her into an SUV when they met at the Walmart on West Kellogg on Feb. 12, 2020. Albertson took off with his former flame; some people who drove her to the meeting chased the SUV in a Pontiac G6. The woman managed to escape when Albertson stopped at a business in the 1600 block of South Seneca, police said previously.
Albertson pursued the G6 when it left with the woman and eventually pushed the car over a curb and into a grassy area on Vine Street near Pawnee, according to the police account. Initially, officers started chasing Albertson when he drove off in the SUV but called off the pursuit.
The next day, authorities arrested Albertson following a high-speed chase with a stolen Thunderbird he reportedly was driving.
In November, Albertson pleaded guilty to six charges in two criminal cases, court records show: two counts of aggravated battery, and one count each of fleeing or attempting to elude an officer, methamphetamine possession, criminal possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and driving while under the influence. He was sentenced Feb. 11.
Lawyers asked Judge Kevin Mark Smith to put Albertson on probation, despite a criminal history that would have made him a candidate for prison, in part because the 44-year-old committed his only other felonies of record decades ago. When Albertson was a teenager, he told another boy who had escaped from a group home to shoot at vehicles as they were joyriding in Wichita, according to a summary of the crimes included in an appellate court ruling associated with the case. A 17-year-old boy in one of the vehicles was hit by gunfire and suffered lifelong injuries when a bullet struck his neck, the ruling says.
The 1993 case landed Albertson in prison, where he was ordered to serve 17 to 60 years. He is currently on parole and along with his co-defendant still owes nearly a quarter million dollars in restitution to the injured victim, corrections and court records indicate.
The defense lawyer in the 2020 cases pointed out in court filings that Albertson was released from prison in 2012 and did well until a 2016 traffic crash led to a prescription opioid and methamphetamine addiction. The 2020 cases “all stem from the heavy use of methamphetamine and alcohol and a likely resulting amphetamine psychosis,” the court-appointed lawyer, Gerard Scott, wrote, adding that Albertson is “off methamphetamines” and “has improved greatly” since his arrest.
He argued that the old felonies “do not demonstrate any long term pattern of criminal behavior,” that Albertson “admitted his culpability” and “recognizes that he had/has a severe (drug) problem and might not be alive today had he not been incarcerated.”
Albertson also saved the court and taxpayers time and money by not going through with a preliminary hearing and trial, the lawyer said in court filings.
The sentence imposed follows the recommendations lawyers gave to the judge in Albertson’s plea agreement.
While on probation, Albertson must stay in Kansas unless he gets permission to leave the state, obtain a drug and alcohol evaluation, get a mental health evaluation and work full time or spend 40 hours a week seeking employment or performing community service. He is also expected to avoid alcohol and any non-prescription drugs and stay away from the victim, court records show.
If Albertson violates the terms of his probation, the judge could send him to prison for 96 months.
This story was originally published February 25, 2021 at 3:24 PM.
