Reservist sentenced for February chase

By Joe Gorman

jgorman@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

A U.S. Army reservist who pleaded guilty to drug charges and leading police on a chase was sentenced Wednesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to six months in the county jail as part of a five-year probation sentence.

Judge R. Scott Krichbaum also ordered Jalazia Green, 23, to complete drug treatment at Community Corrections Association as part of her sentence.

Green was sentenced on charges of failure to comply, possession of fentanyl and possession of cocaine for a Feb. 4 chase on the East Side where she drove into a front yard on Verona Avenue after officers tried to pull her over for a traffic violation. She was caught after a foot chase.

Her attorney, J. Gerald Ingram, said his client has been in the reserves since 2014 and is scheduled to be discharged in 2022. He said Green has a history of substance abuse, but other than two previous drug cases before her arrest, she has no criminal record.

Green said the night of the chase she had been drinking because of the recent deaths of several family members and planned to do drugs later. She said she was trying to get to a friend’s house when police spotted her. She drove away because she did not want to get arrested for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.

Green also told the judge she has never had drug treatment before.

Judge Krichbaum said some sort of incarceration is necessary for Green because she ran from the police, which could have injured her, the officers who chased her or bystanders.