Bridget Leigh Kimbrell, 42, of Hillsboro has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for stealing a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper’s vehicle and assaulting him with the stolen cruiser. Kimbrell also pleaded guilty to stealing a recreation vehicle in a separate incident, court records show.
On Oct. 28, a jury found Kimbrell guilty of second-degree assault, armed criminal action and first-degree tampering stemming from a Feb. 26 incident when she stole a highway patrol cruiser and dragged a trooper who was trying to get inside the vehicle, court documents said.
In addition, she pleaded guilty to first-degree tampering for stealing an RV from a Poplar Bluff storage facility that was involved in a hit-and-run accident on Feb. 16 in Washington County, according to court documents
Jefferson County Div. 1 Circuit Judge Joseph Rathert sentenced Kimbrell on Dec. 13 to seven years in prison for assault, seven years in prison for stealing the cruiser and five years in prison for armed criminal action following the jury trial. Rathert also sentenced her to six years in prison for the theft of the RV, court records said.
She will serve the two seven-year sentences and the six-year sentence concurrently, or at the same time, and she will serve the five-year sentence consecutively with the two seven-year terns and the six-year sentences, for a total of 12 years, according to court documents.
The incident began on Feb. 16, when someone was driving a 2017 Thor Freedom Elite 26HE RV north on Hwy. E near Hinch Road in Washington County and sideswiped a vehicle traveling south on the highway. The person who’s vehicle was sideswiped said the RV was towing a four-wheeler on a trailer, the probable-cause statement in the case said.
The victim said the RV crossed the center line of the highway, forcing him off the road and knocking a side mirror off his vehicle. The victim said he got back on the highway and chased the RV to get a license plate number, the report said.
He said someone else was driving a blue Dodge pickup in front of the RV, and the pickup let the RV pass it and got between the RV and the victim’s vehicle. The victim said it appeared the pickup driver was trying to block him from seeing the RV’s license plate, according to the report.
The victim said he tried to pass the pickup by using the southbound lane as they drove north, but the pickup cut him off. The three vehicles turned onto Hwy. CC and traveled east toward Upper Blackwell Road, where the pickup and the victim stopped at a stop sign, the probable-cause statement said.
The victim said a man got out of the pickup and started to yell at him, so the victim drove around the man and the pickup and tried to catch up to the RV. The victim said he approached the RV near a set of railroad tracks, and the driver of the RV tried to run him off the road, the report said.
The victim said he slammed on his brakes when it looked like the RV was trying to force him off the road, and the pickup, which was chasing him, hit his vehicle from behind. The victim said he drove away and called 911, and the RV and pickup remained behind, according to the report.
Then, on Feb. 21, the highway patrol got a call that the RV was at a home in the 5900 block of Webb Road southwest of Hillsboro. The victim from the hit-and-run accident was asked to meet authorities at the home, and he identified the RV as the one that had sideswiped him, the report said.
The homeowner told a trooper that Kimbrell had asked him to store the RV at the property. Kimbrell had told the homeowner the keys were in the center console, according to the report.
On Feb. 22, the trooper contacted the RV owner, who said she was in Florida and the RV was supposed to be at Tag Truck Center, 3792 N. Hwy. 67, in Poplar Bluff. The trooper contacted the storage business on Feb. 23, and employee told him the RV was still supposed to be stored there and that the company had the keys, the probable-cause statement said.
On Feb. 26, a trooper went to a house in the 4300 block of Center Drive south of De Soto to arrest Kimbrell because of the stolen RV. The trooper handcuffed Kimbrell and put her in his cruiser, the report said.
Kimbrell said her shoulder was bothering her, so the trooper put a different set of handcuffs on her. The trooper noted that one of the locks on the handcuffs was loose and tightened it, placed Kimbrell into the cruiser with her hands cuffed behind her and secured her with a seat belt, according to the report.
The trooper then checked to see if other vehicles at the home were reported stolen, and while he was investigating, Kimbrell got her cuffed hands in front of her, got into the driver’s seat and turned on the cruiser’s lights and siren. The trooper ran toward the cruiser and opened the passenger-side door, but when he tried to get in, Kimbrell started driving away with the trooper hanging out of the passenger-side door, the report said.
The trooper said Kimbrell started driving toward a tree, so he let go of the cruiser and rolled away from it and into a ditch. The trooper ran after the cruiser and Kimbrell drove toward the trooper, who pulled out his gun but didn’t shoot because he feared he may hit a house behind the approaching cruiser, the probable-cause statement said.
Kimbrell drove past the trooper, who suffered minor injuries to one of his legs but was later cleared to resume light duty with the patrol, Cpl. Dallas Thompson said at the time of the incident.
Jefferson County deputies pursued the stolen cruiser, which the woman crashed off Hardin Road near the St. Francois County line, but the woman ran away and escaped arrest. Kimbrell was still in handcuffs when she ran way, the probable-cause statement said.
Officers used search dogs and infrared devices to try to find Kimbrell, but they lost track of her in the 4300 block of Silver Springs Road in Bonne Terre, the report said.
Kimbrell was arrested March 4 in Conway, Ark., and then extradited to Jefferson County, Thompson said.