photo by: Johnson County Sheriff's Office

Seth Austin Kenney

A 26-year-old Topeka man with an extensive criminal history was found guilty Wednesday of three felonies in connection with an armed disturbance in downtown Lawrence just days before Christmas last year.

The defendant, Seth Kenney, in a deal with the state, pleaded no contest to aggravated battery, criminal damage to property and fleeing and eluding police. Five misdemeanor counts, including three counts of battery on a law enforcement officer, were dismissed as part of the agreement.

photo by: Lawrence Police Department

A man flees from police in his car on the sidewalk in the 800 block of Massachusetts Street early Sunday morning.

photo by: Lawrence Police Department

A man flees from police in his car on the sidewalk in the 800 block of Massachusetts Street early Sunday morning.

The charges relate to an incident in which a police officer allegedly spotted Kenney around 2 a.m. on Dec. 23 approaching a group of people in downtown Lawrence with a rifle before getting into his car, backing into a patrol vehicle and a lamppost while driving on the sidewalk, then leading police on a chase that ended with Kenney crashing on the Interstate 70 on-ramp.

The state is asking that Kenney’s sentences for the three felonies run consecutively and that he pay $1,529 in restitution. Senior Assistant District Attorney Ricardo Leal told Judge Sally Pokorny that he believed Kenney’s criminal history score to be a “B,” which is the second highest possible.

Kenney has had numerous run-ins with the law in multiple counties involving charges of domestic battery, fleeing from police and criminal threat.

He was convicted of one felony count each of aggravated assault and fleeing from police in 2019 after he threatened to shoot and kill a man who was traveling with two children in a road rage incident on Kansas Highway 10. He was given probation in connection with that incident.

He is scheduled to be sentenced in the current case on June 25.

A body camera image of a rifle recovered by Lawrence police after a man was seen approaching a group of people Sunday, Dec 22, 2024, in downtown Lawrence.