Aggravated DWI offender gets five-year sentence

A Cape Girardeau man on was sentenced to five years in prison for a fifth driving-while intoxicated charge he received after leading police on a chase in which speeds topped 100 mph in October.

Jeffrey A. Pirtle II was already considered an aggravated offender Monday when he changed his pleas to guilty to felony charges of drunken driving and resisting arrest. Judge William Syler sentenced the 35-year-old to five years in prison, which is to be served concurrently as a four-year sentence for the resisting arrest charge and for violating probation.

Pirtle was facing as many as 11 years in prison following his arrest at his apartment in Cape Girardeau during the early morning hours of Oct. 27. Police took Pirtle into custody after they chased his 2004 Dodge Ram from Alexander County, Ill., to the apartment on Whitener Street. Pirtle allegedly had struck a staff member of the Pink Pony club in East Cape Girardeau, Ill., and later tried to strike a person with his truck.

Alexander County sheriff's deputies sped after him and were later joined by the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Cape Girardeau police. Pirtle refused a breathalyzer. His prior offenses, mostly in Dunklin County, came in 1999, 2006, 2007 and 2011, all through guilty pleas, according to a review of online court records.

Pertinent address:

100 Court St., Jackson, Mo.