CLEARFIELD – A DuBois man who struck a police car as he fled from police in February was sentenced to state prison Monday.
Police say Corey Sheldon Bigelow, 20, and a woman was asleep in a vehicle in the parking lot of a Penfield business on Feb. 14 when state police blocked the car in to avoid them leaving the scene due to Bigelow having a warrant for his arrest.
Instead of surrendering to police, Bigelow struck one of the cars, fled the scene and caused a chase that ended in a traffic accident.
Bigelow pleaded guilty before Judge Paul E. Cherry to felony fleeing or attempting to elude police, aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person and driving under the influence.
He was sentenced to nine months to three years in state prison, according to a court employee.
In a second case, he pleaded guilty to terroristic threats, criminal mischief and harassment. For this, he received an additional three months to two years in state prison, giving him a total sentence of 12 months to five years.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, police received a call from employees at the Penfield business about the vehicle at 7:35 a.m.
A check on the car registration revealed it belonged to Bigelow’s girlfriend. Because they had a warrant for his arrest, state police were called in at about 10:21 a.m. and they parked their cars to block the vehicle from escaping.
Before they could approach him, Bigelow pulled out, striking the front passenger side of one of the cars.
The troopers started to chase the vehicle, which was traveling up to 100 miles an hour at times.
The chase continued until the vehicle struck another vehicle that was sitting on Hickory Road waiting to make a turn onto state Route 255.
After the impact, the vehicle continued into a wooded area where it came to rest. Bigelow got out and fled on foot but he was apprehended.
While in the police car, he told officers he fled because he knew he had a warrant and did not want to go to prison. He stated that he was also on probation.
He further explained that when he saw the police cars, he got scared and fled, unaware he had struck the police car.
Bigelow stated that he was sorry for hitting the other vehicle. He confessed that he had used heroin, methamphetamine and acid at about 8 a.m.
In an interview with police, the woman in the car said they were out most of the night and when they parked at the business, they fell asleep.
She woke up when Bigelow said “oh crap” because of the arrival of police. She saw the three police vehicles blocking them in and he drove off, striking one of them.
She said she advised him to stop because he hit the car but Bigelow said “I’m not going to prison. They will have to shoot me.”
As the chase went on, she said she did ask him to stop because they were going to get caught anyway. She warned he was going to wreck her car.
After he fled on foot, she moved to the driver’s seat and tried to move the vehicle, but it was stuck in the snow. She stated she was not trying to flee the scene.
A witness at the scene told investigators that he saw the three police cars block in the vehicle, which then struck one as it drove off.
This witness said he hit the police car head on and “it was so hard I was concerned the trooper may have been injured.”
Bigelow was wanted for the second case that occurred Jan. 28 in Sandy Township.
According to that affidavit, his girlfriend reported that Bigelow had assaulted her. She explained to police that when she drove to pick him up, he pounded on her vehicle window and then pulled the passenger side door handle off.
After he got into the vehicle, she drove off, but he told her to stop so they could talk. This is when he struck her with both open and closed fists as he screamed at her. He took her cell phone and threw it on the ground, disabling it.
He insisted she drive him to his “drug dealer’s house” in Clearfield. On the way, he kept pulling the car’s shifter and putting it into park. At one point, he almost caused them to collide with a tractor-trailer.
Due to his behavior, the victim pulled into a nearby residence where she began honking her horn in an effort to get help.
She said he told her: “If I get arrested and sent back to jail or prison, I will kill you and make sure your kids can only see you in the cemetery.” He continued striking her with a closed fist, according to the complaint.
Next, he reached across and shoved her out of the vehicle onto the ground and attempted to drive away.
After the homeowner came out and told them he had called police, Bigelow ran off into the woods.