Platte County jury convicts man who escaped from Kansas prison
A Platte County jury has convicted one of two prison escapees who led authorities on a high-speed chase in May 2013 and barricaded themselves in a home near Smithville Lake after they fired at law enforcement officers.
Scott A. Gilbert, 51, was convicted Friday of 10 felonies, including firing at a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest, after a two-week criminal trial. Gilbert and two other men escaped from the Lansing Correctional Facility early May 10, 2013. The jury acquitted him of attempted kidnapping and one count of armed criminal action.
Gilbert will be sentenced Jan. 8, Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd said Monday.
According to court documents, the events began midmorning when a Platte City police officer saw a vehicle that had been reported stolen leaving the McDonald’s at 2001 N.W. Prairie View Road in Kansas City, North. The officer tried to pull over the vehicle, but the occupants — Gilbert and accomplice Allen M. Hurst — refused to stop.
The officer and Platte County sheriff’s deputies followed the vehicle. At one point, Gilbert shot at the deputies, who did not return fire.
After their vehicle became stuck on a retaining wall, Gilbert and Hurst sought refuge in a house in the 9000 block of Route Z. They broke a patio door window to get inside. No one was in it or the neighboring houses.
Authorities, including tactical response officers from the sheriff’s office and the Missouri Highway Patrol, surrounded the house. The men surrendered about six hours later.
A third escapee was arrested without incident later that night outside Topeka. Hurst is in jail and scheduled to go on trial Feb. 1, Zahnd said.
Gilbert was convicted in 2010 in Sedgwick County, Kansas, of burglary and theft. He also served time for convictions dating to 1998 in Reno, Sedgwick, Saline, Geary and Cowley counties in Kansas, records show.
Glenn E. Rice: 816-234-4341, @GRicekcstar
This story was originally published November 16, 2015 at 11:43 AM with the headline "Platte County jury convicts man who escaped from Kansas prison."