An Illinois man got just under two years probation Wednesday for pleading guilty but mentally ill after leading police on a slow-speed chase on Interstate 65, then repeatedly slamming into a cop car.
Thomas Sanhamel, 46, of Aurora, admitted in a plea deal filed Monday in Lake Superior Court in Crown Point, Indiana, to attempted battery by means of a deadly weapon, a Level 5 felony, and resisting law enforcement, a Level 6 felony. He was originally charged with an attempted murder case.
A state trooper was patrolling I-65 southbound at 3:15 p.m. July 12, 2023, about three miles north of Indiana 2 when a citizen notified him of a car driving 5 mph in the right lane. The trooper found the truck going 8 mph and tried to stop him, but the driver then sped away, Indiana State Police spokesman Sgt. Glen Fifield said previously.
The suspect attempted to drive northbound in the southbound lanes, Fifield said, but ended up driving into a grassy ditch on the west side because of a traffic jam. While trying to get back on I-65, he rammed into a Jasper County Sheriff’s vehicle four times, which ended up disabling his truck for good.
Sanhamel later told police at the hospital that he was headed to Indiana and didn’t stop, since he “didn’t do anything wrong.”
Judge Gina Jones, Deputy Prosecutor Maureen Koonce and defense lawyer Josh Malher said Sanhamel was sent to Logansport for treatment and was in a much better place now.
If they went to trial, the outcome would have likely been similar, Koonce said. At his first court hearing in August 2023 – after he refused multiple times to leave jail – Sanhamel was strapped into a chair and refused to talk.
Seeing his transformation has been “wonderful to see,” she said.
Malher said Sanhamel was a “transformed man.”
He asked Jones to accept the deal. Sanhamel, who answered questions throughout the hearing, declined to make a statement on his own behalf in court.
Sanhamel’s plea called for two years on attempted battery, with 580 days in jail and the rest on probation. His time served already covers the jail time.
Instead, he will serve five months on probation for attempted battery, plus 18 months probation for resisting law enforcement. He is also required to do court-ordered counseling and repay $1,000 to the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department.
Jones told lawyers she also wanted in writing he had to stay in touch with a mental health provider.
“This is a…180,” she told him. “Good luck to you.”
Post-Tribune archives contributed.
mcolias@post-trib.com
