Jerimiah Hartline caused injuries to seven people after setting off a chain of crashes

May 14, 2013 06:46 GMT  ·  By
Jeremiah Hartline has pleaded guilty, will be going to jail for causing great bodily injury
   Jeremiah Hartline has pleaded guilty, will be going to jail for causing great bodily injury

A man from Tennessee has pleaded guilty to several charges after causing several crashes on the Interstate while, as he put it, being chased by zombies.

29-year-old Jerimiah Hartline originally claimed his innocence when faced with an arrest for assault with a deadly weapon.

According to U-T San Diego, he has now accepted his guilt to avoid spending a long time in prison, not just on the assault charge, but also for reckless driving, stealing an articulated lorry, driving without a license and causing a hit and run resulting in injury.

The Mirror reported that seven people were injured when he took off with an 18-wheeler and drove it erratically on Interstate 15, hitting several vehicles and causing multiple crashes in a chain reaction.

“He was arrested at the crash scene and appeared to be in an altered state, claiming he was being chased by zombies.

“Hartline swerved the truck side to side to shake the zombies off," California Highway Patrol Office Nathan Baer described after the incident.

Hartline stole the big-rig, carrying strawberries after hitching a ride with the driver, when he got out of the vehicle at a Temecula, California stop on April 6, at roughly 6 p.m.

He told police that he fled the truck stop because he was being chased by zombies. He smashed into a vehicle soon after he got off the Temecula Parkway interchange.

Had he stuck with his not guilty plea, Hartline was risking a sentence of 12 years and four months.

The Riverside County District Attorney's Office informs that he has entered a guilty plea for causing great bodily injury.

His plea entails a maximum of five years spent in jail. Sentencing has been set for June 24, District Attorney's Office spokesman John Hall detailed.