photo by: Douglas County Sheriff's Office

Kenneth J. Leedom, pictured Aug. 11, 2019

A Tennessee man was sentenced to probation Monday for leading law enforcement on a chase through Douglas County while he had a baby and guns in his truck.

Kenneth Jeremy Leedom, 33, of Woodbury, Tenn., was arrested Aug. 11 after leading two Douglas County Sheriff’s Office deputies and a sergeant on a chase down East 251 Diagonal Road, onto a private drive, through a ravine and eventually back to East 251 Diagonal Road. The officers eventually brought Leedom’s Ford Ranger to a stop by boxing it in with their vehicles and gradually slowing.

After he was stopped, Leedom told law enforcement he had a gun on his person and more in the truck, the Journal-World has reported. According to court documents, a deputy found two rifles and two handguns in the truck. One of the rifles had been reported stolen. A woman and a 9-month-old boy had been riding in the truck.

In November, Leedom pleaded no contest to aggravated endangerment of a child, attempted aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer and possession of stolen property. On Monday, a judge sentenced him to 24 months of probation with an underlying sentence of 33 months in prison, should his probation be revoked, according to Dorothy Kliem, trial assistant for the Douglas County district attorney’s office.

Leedom must obtain a substance abuse evaluation and complete its recommendations. He must also complete a theft offender program, Kliem said via email. He was ordered to pay $500 in restitution and the court waived remaining costs, Kliem said.

Then-Sgt. Mark Mehrer, now a lieutenant with the sheriff’s office, wrote in court documents that Leedom had apologized for running, as well as for running into Mehrer’s patrol vehicle. After his preliminary hearing in the case, Leedom shook Mehrer’s hand and apologized again.

Leedom’s appointed defense attorney, Shaye Downing, could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday, but she previously told the Journal-World via email that “Mr. Leedom has consistently expressed his regret for his actions that day, especially for putting those important to him and the officers’ safety at risk.”