Pensacola man admits to Baldwin carjacking, chase that include two different crashes

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - A Pensacola man pleaded guilty Thursday to carjacking, admitting that he led Baldwin County sheriff’s deputies on two different chases over the summer, forcibly taking a vehicle in the process.

Court records indicate that deputies responded on July 12 to a 911 call about an assault at a Chevron gas station in Foley. Billy Joe Burns admitted that he got into a fight with the ex-husband of the woman he was with. He and the woman then took off, leading deputies on a chase after he refused to pull over in the Miflin community, according to his written plea agreement.

Eventually, Burns wrecked his Kia Forte on Baldwin County 83. According to the plea document, he got out of the car, jumped a fence and ran toward the woods.

With the deputy pointing a gun at the woman, another driver passing by stopped to ask if she could help.

“Go down there and see if you can see that guy,” the deputy responded, according to court records. “Do not get out with him.”

When she did, according to the plea agreement, Burns threatened her with a broke piece of cinder block, pulled her from the Dodge Caravan and then drove away in it.

Deputies picked up the chase again on Baldwin County 20. It ended at the Foley Beach Express and Baldwin County 8 in Gulf Shores when Burns again wrecked, crashing into a truck. The collision totaled the truck, but the driver, his wife and 2-year-old child was not hurt.

Deputies arrested Burns at gunpoint in a nearby vacant lot. Noting the defendant’s green-dyed hair and distinctive tattoos on his neck and arms, the Dodge owner told investigators she was 100 percent certain when she identified him from a photo array.

Burns faces a maxim sentence of 15 years in prison.

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