CENTERVILLE — A Mystic man was given probation for his role in a New Year’s Day chase with Appanoose County sheriff's deputies that began north of Exline and ended in Mystic.

Timmy Leslie Leopard Jr., 27, entered a negotiated guilty plea to the charge of eluding, a class D felony, earlier this month in front of Judge Kirk A. Daily. The five year prison sentence imposed by Judge Daily was suspended to five years probation with the Eighth Judicial District Department of Correctional Services. The judge imposed a $750 fine plus court cots.

According to court records, during the early morning hours of Jan. 1, Leopard first eluded Appanoose County reserve deputy Tony Caraccio after he tried to stop him for a traffic violation in the 21000 block of County Road J46. The chase continued west on J46 and then north on 180th Avenue where Appanoose County Sheriff Deputy Todd Craver met the vehicle in the 22000 block of 180th Avenue. Leopard led law enforcement officials into the town of Mystic where he drove to a dead end on North Fourth Street and exited the vehicle and ran into the woods.

A subsequent investigation revealed Leopard had attended a party in Exline and allegedly stole a van.

The judge dismissed two out of the three criminal charges filed by Appanoose County Attorney Richard Scott — operating a vehicle without the owner's consent, an aggravated misdemeanor and assault on a peace officer and others, a class D felony. A related charge of interference with official acts, a serious misdemeanor, was also dismissed.

Priors for Leopard includes a conviction in February of 2002 where he was sentenced him to five years in prison, suspended to three years probation,180 days in a residential facility and a suspended $1,000 fine for his guilty plea to a controlled substance violation, a class D felony.

Leopard violated his probation in August of 2002 and the court imposed the original five-year prison sentence.