- April 18, 2024
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Phillip Haire, 21, was due in court this coming Tuesday, Nov. 13, to face trial for multiple charges in connection with a May 2017 incident in which he shot at his father and at a deputy and carjacked a vehicle at gunpoint. He'd faced multiple life terms.
Haire must serve at least 20 years in prison, followed by 10 years of probation.
But there will be no trial: In a court hearing Friday, Nov. 9, before Circuit Judge Terence Perkins, Haire accepted a plea deal for 25 years in prison and pleaded guilty to attempted second degree murder of a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, carjacking with a firearm, and burglary with a firearm, according to the State Attorney's Office.
He will be credited the time he has already served in jail since his arrest in 2017. He must serve a mandatory minimum term of a total of 20 years combined for the charges of carjacking with a firearm, burglary with a firearm and attempted second degree murder of a law enforcement officer. His sentence for the other charges will run concurrently.
His release from prison will be followed by 10 yeas of probation with special conditions for a mental health evaluation and drug screening. Haire will be subject to being searched until the end of the probation term. His driver's license will also be revoked permanently, according to a news release from the Flagler County Sheriff's Office.
The crimes occurred May 1, 2017, when Haire, then 19, drove past his parents' house on London Drive and shot in the direction of his father and a Sheriff's Office sergeant, Phil Reynolds, who'd come out to the home after Haire's mother had called the Sheriff's Office to report that Haire had been threatening his father.
No one was hurt, and Haire sped off and crashed the car he was driving on U.S. 1, and then carjacked another vehicle an gunpoint.
A manhunt was conducted, and Haire turned himself in to the Putnam County Sheriff's Office and was arrested on May 3, 2017.
Haire has previously turned down offers of a plea deal, claiming innocence and saying that he had been framed.
In court Nov. 9, Sheriff Rick Staly stood in for Reynolds, who is now a commander and was in training and unable to attend the hearing.
“If you shoot at one of my deputies, you will pay a heavy penalty. While I would have preferred a sentence of life in prison, which he was facing, I believe justice has been served,” Staly said in a news release about the hearing. “I am just happy we did not have to bury a deputy sheriff or anyone else because of his violent acts that day. ... When offenders violently assault one of our deputies, I will always see the case through to conclusion."
