CLEARFIELD – An inmate of the Clearfield County Jail who escaped on Memorial Day pleaded guilty Monday in that case and to several others, including kidnapping charges.
Donald John White, 46, had been incarcerated on kidnapping, unlawful restraint, terroristic threats and assault charges in one case, and terroristic threats, assault and harassment in a second for terrorizing the same victim, when he walked away from a grass-cutting detail at the jail.
He was taken into custody on June 17 in Huston Township after a police chase.
During sentencing court on Monday, White was sentenced by Judge Paul E. Cherry to a total of 6 ½ to 15 years in state prison for six cases.
He pleaded guilty to terroristic threats in the first two cases; kidnapping, strangulation and terroristic threats in the third one; escape in the fourth; theft by unlawful taking for stealing a motorcycle while he was on the run and fleeing, flight to avoid apprehension and resisting arrest for the chase before he was captured by police.
He apologized for his actions.
The affidavit from the first case in September of 2021 details how police were notified by a friend of the victim that White had a gun and was going to shoot her and her kids if the cops came to the door of her DuBois home.
After they entered using a battering ram, they found the victim and her two children on the second floor.
She said White was not there but he was located under the bed in a third-floor bedroom. He reportedly would not show the officers his hands and yelled at them to shoot him.
One of the officers deployed his taser causing White to show his hands, which were empty. They flipped the bed over and after he resisted a bit, were able to take him into custody.
The victim apologized to the cops for lying about White being there but explained that he told her he had a gun and if she told police he was there, he would “blow her head off.”
In January, White got angry with her, punched her in the face multiple times, dragged her through the kitchen by her hair, threw a torch at her, and strangled her with both hands to the point where she blacked out multiple times, according to that criminal complaint.
He also kicked her in the ribs and back while she was on the ground and would not allow her to leave her home.
Then in February, the victim told police he became angry with her that morning and again would not let her out of the residence. He put the knife to her throat, declaring he would kill her if she attempted to leave, according to the criminal complaint.
According to the affidavit, in the fleeing case, police were dispatched to Penfield because they had received information that White, who was reportedly armed and ready to fire on police, was going to be in that area in a black Nissan Sentra.
After he was spotted in the passenger side of the vehicle, a trooper tried to stop the car. The driver jumped out and White reportedly moved into the driver’s seat.
White fled on state Route 255 and a chase continued for seven miles into Elk County.
Additional troopers joined in the race with speeds going “well over 100 mph” while White passed numerous vehicles and oncoming traffic was forced off the roadway to avoid head-on collisions.
“White even passed on blind curves, nearly colliding with numerous unsuspecting motorists,” according to the criminal complaint.
Near Weedville, a trooper deployed spike strips, which caused the vehicle’s tires to slowly start deflating.
Police said he tried to continue to evade them by driving left onto Hemlock Street in Jay Township and then driving through residential yards.
At one point, he drove at a reportedly high speed, through a yard with an above ground swimming pool with people in it.
A trooper was able to use the precision immobilization technique, which caused White to drive down a high grass covered embankment. The vehicle became disabled and White left it to run on foot.
Eventually White ran into the side of another police vehicle that was positioned to stop him.
An electronic incapacitation device was used to try to slow White down.
Three troopers than physically restrained him as he refused to be handcuffed. Once in custody, he was reportedly found to have a small amount of methamphetamine in his pocket.
During the chase, three state police vehicles were damaged, according to the report.
