On Tuesday, August 20th 2019, a Burnet County jury found Defendant Allan Wayne Hawley of Cottonwood Shores guilty of Evading Arrest with a Motor Vehicle. Judge Allan Garrett then sentenced Hawley to 55 years in prison in accordance with the Jury’s assessment of punishment. The jury further found that the defendant used a motor vehicle as a deadly weapon in the commission of the crime which means he must be incarcerated at least ½ of his sentence before he is eligible for parole.
In the early evening hours of February 12, 2019, Allan Hawley led multiple police agencies on a vehicle chase through the city of Marble Falls. The defendant attempted to elude a Burnet County Sheriff’s Deputy Travis Akers when Deputy Akers observed the defendant commit multiple traffic violations. The Defendant drove a red Ducati motorcycle through residential and business areas and risked the lives of himself, law enforcement officers and other citizens in the city. The chase ended only when the defendant struck a Marble Falls police unit in the Chick-fil-A parking lot in his attempt to continue the evading.
The defendant had an extensive criminal history from California and Texas as well as federal convictions for Bank Robbery and Felon in Possession of a Firearm. Normally the sentence for evading arrest with a motor vehicle is 2 to 10 years in prison. However, Mr. Hawley’s criminal history allowed his offense to be punished as a habitual offender. Therefore, the punishment range was from 25 years in prison up to 99 years or life.
Assistant District Attorneys Amanda Dillon and Erin Toolan prosecuted the case. The defendant exercised his constitutional right to represent himself during the trial with stand-by defense counsel Austin Shell. Judge Allan Garrett presided over the trial. The trial began Monday, August 19th and concluded late on the following Tuesday afternoon.
Prosecutors Dillon and Toolan praised the Burnet County Sheriff’s Office, the Marble Falls Police Department and Texas Department of Public Safety for their commitment to the safety of the citizens of Burnet County. “We are very lucky that no one was injured by Mr. Hawley’s actions. Law enforcement did exactly what they were trained to do and they protected a lot of people that night. The jury made the right decision to send Mr. Hawley back to prison and we are all safer for it,” Dillon said.