Teen Paralyzed During Chase To Stand Trial

A teen who was shot and paralyzed at the end of a police chase last year will stand trial in June on charges he ran over and killed a deputy during his attempt to flee.

There had been speculation that Jason Tucker, 19, would not recover enough to face a jury in the May 29 death of Orange County deputy John Creegan. Tucker is still paralyzed below the shoulders despite rehabilitation at a Boise hospital.

But defense lawyer Steve Jewett told a judge Tuesday that Tucker no longer needs a respirator and can speak and sit up.

“He has progressed well beyond what we expected,” Jewett said.

Circuit Judge Reginald Whitehead set a June 23 trial date Tuesday for the second-degree murder case.

Prosecutors say Tucker was fleeing deputies in a stolen pickup truck and fatally struck Creegan at an Interstate 4 roadblock. One of the deputies in the chase shot Tucker twice. One bullet hit him in the neck and paralyzed him.

Tucker spent 22 days in intensive care at Orlando Regional Medical Center. Prosecutors then let the teen leave Florida for a spinal cord rehabilitation hospital in Boise, where Tucker’s mother and stepfather live.