The identity of the man police were chasing Sunday morning - a chase that ended with two deaths - came to light on Monday.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The identity of the man police were chasing Sunday morning - a chase that ended with two deaths - came to light on Monday.
Brian Scott Good, 31 of Milliken, is the man who first led police on a chase at about 9 p.m. Saturday, then was spotted again after midnight by Charleston Patrolman Jerry Jones, according to a press statement from Kanawha County Sheriff's Lt. Sean Crosier.
Charleston officers shot and killed Good after he began ramming their cruisers with his car, police say. Jones died after he was hit by friendly fire.
Crosier said no other information about the sheriff's department investigation into the incident would be released Monday.
Charleston Police Chief Brent Webster said a memorial for Jones will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. today at the Charleston Municipal Auditorium. The funeral will be 11 a.m. Wednesday, he said.
Early Sunday morning, Jones pursued the car Good was driving from the intersection of Washington Street and Ruffner Avenue to Greenbrier Street, then onto Quick Road north of the city, Webster said.
Webster said it is routine for police to chase suspects past the city limits.
"It was a hot-pursuit situation. The shift commander was monitoring the situation," he said. "It was just like when police from other cities come into Charleston in pursuit."
The driver, now known to be Good, had a female passenger in the car, he said.
Good pulled over in a gravel area on Quick Road, Mayor Danny Jones said Sunday. By then, three other police officers in their patrol cars had joined the chase. Good rammed one of the police cars "full throttle" Webster said. Good tried to push through the vehicle, Webster said. He then backed up and rammed again into two other vehicles, trying to push them out of the way.
It was then that police opened fire, shooting Good and Jones, he said.
Jones' family declined to be interviewed Monday in light of the news that he had been killed by friendly fire.
"We just don't want to comment," Jones' father, Jerry L. Jones, said. "I personally don't think there was any wrongdoing."
Good's criminal background
According to court filings, Good was charged with domestic assault and domestic battery on April 17, when a woman said he had a knife and threatened to kill her. She also said Good threatened to kill her when she went to bed. He would not leave the residence, she said in a victim's statement. The woman said he punched her in the leg.
Good has numerous previous charges as well, including brandishing a deadly weapon, resisting arrest, assault, possession of a meth lab, intent to deliver meth and breaking and entering.
Good's criminal history includes a malicious wounding conviction in 2000 for striking his then-girlfriend's father in the head with a fireplace poker. According to court documents, Good interrupted a party at Robert Hall's home in August 1999, and dragged Hall's daughter from the residence.
As part of his agreement with prosecutors, Good also pleaded guilty to domestic battery, a misdemeanor. He was sentenced to two to 10 years in prison, with credit for 441 days served while awaiting resolution of the charges against him.
In September 2001, Good's lawyer asked Kanawha Circuit Judge Duke Bloom to shorten Good's sentence, noting that he had completed courses in "Rational Cognitive Therapy" and "Coping with Anger" while incarcerated.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The identity of the man police were chasing Sunday morning - a chase that ended with two deaths - came to light on Monday.
Brian Scott Good, 31 of Milliken, is the man who first led police on a chase at about 9 p.m. Saturday, then was spotted again after midnight by Charleston Patrolman Jerry Jones, according to a press statement from Kanawha County Sheriff's Lt. Sean Crosier.
Charleston officers shot and killed Good after he began ramming their cruisers with his car, police say. Jones died after he was hit by friendly fire.
Crosier said no other information about the sheriff's department investigation into the incident would be released Monday.
Charleston Police Chief Brent Webster said a memorial for Jones will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. today at the Charleston Municipal Auditorium. The funeral will be 11 a.m. Wednesday, he said.
Early Sunday morning, Jones pursued the car Good was driving from the intersection of Washington Street and Ruffner Avenue to Greenbrier Street, then onto Quick Road north of the city, Webster said.
Webster said it is routine for police to chase suspects past the city limits.
"It was a hot-pursuit situation. The shift commander was monitoring the situation," he said. "It was just like when police from other cities come into Charleston in pursuit."
The driver, now known to be Good, had a female passenger in the car, he said.
Good pulled over in a gravel area on Quick Road, Mayor Danny Jones said Sunday. By then, three other police officers in their patrol cars had joined the chase. Good rammed one of the police cars "full throttle" Webster said. Good tried to push through the vehicle, Webster said. He then backed up and rammed again into two other vehicles, trying to push them out of the way.
It was then that police opened fire, shooting Good and Jones, he said.
Jones' family declined to be interviewed Monday in light of the news that he had been killed by friendly fire.
"We just don't want to comment," Jones' father, Jerry L. Jones, said. "I personally don't think there was any wrongdoing."
Good's criminal background
According to court filings, Good was charged with domestic assault and domestic battery on April 17, when a woman said he had a knife and threatened to kill her. She also said Good threatened to kill her when she went to bed. He would not leave the residence, she said in a victim's statement. The woman said he punched her in the leg.
Good has numerous previous charges as well, including brandishing a deadly weapon, resisting arrest, assault, possession of a meth lab, intent to deliver meth and breaking and entering.
Good's criminal history includes a malicious wounding conviction in 2000 for striking his then-girlfriend's father in the head with a fireplace poker. According to court documents, Good interrupted a party at Robert Hall's home in August 1999, and dragged Hall's daughter from the residence.
As part of his agreement with prosecutors, Good also pleaded guilty to domestic battery, a misdemeanor. He was sentenced to two to 10 years in prison, with credit for 441 days served while awaiting resolution of the charges against him.
In September 2001, Good's lawyer asked Kanawha Circuit Judge Duke Bloom to shorten Good's sentence, noting that he had completed courses in "Rational Cognitive Therapy" and "Coping with Anger" while incarcerated.
"Mr. Good believes he will do well upon his release provided he refrain from substance abuse and attend support group meetings for the same, and other counseling or therapy services," the motion reads.
Good was charged with second-offense domestic battery in 2003, but those charges were dismissed after the alleged victim twice failed to appear in court to testify.
Four years later, Good was charged with four felonies, including possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine, for his alleged involvement in a meth lab in Alum Creek. According to a criminal complaint filed in Kanawha Magistrate Court, Good told a state trooper where the meth lab was, "and that it was his and he wished to claim all the blame for having the meth lab."
However, the Kanawha County prosecutor's office never followed through on the case against Good.
On June 23, Kanawha Circuit Judge Irene Berger dismissed the meth-related charges against Good because there had been a delay of more than a year in formally charging him, either by information or by grand jury indictment.
Kanawha County prosecutor Mark Plants noted that the case against Good was initiated before he was elected. He said he made prompt handling of indictments a major part of his campaign, and he has worked to reduce the two-year backlog since he took office in January.
"What happened in this case highlights a problem that I've been trying to address for the last eight months," he said. "That's the exact kind of problem that I'm trying to address."
'No death wish,' mom says
Good's mother, Patricia Harrison, said she first learned of what happened to her son after calling police Sunday morning. She said officers - it was unclear from which department - told her that her son had shot at officers and then been shot himself.
"I know my son didn't have a death wish," she said. "I'm going to find out what happened to my son. I'm going to make sure I know why my son was ambushed."
Harrison said her son had five daughters by four different women. She said family members were cleaning out his trailer because it had been vandalized.
"I know he might have been ramming those cars, but you can see they shot him through the windows," she said. "I know he was chasing them up there or whatever, but he was murdered."
One room of the trailer is painted pink for his children. Good had also built a porch and retiled the kitchen, among other improvements. Harrison said her son worked at the trailer court where he lived and could operate any kind of heavy machinery.
She did not deny his run-ins with the law.
"I tell you my son was killed in cold blood. Even if it was in a police chase, they opened fire because he pissed them off. He got away three times," she said.
Harrison said the first police chase started when Good saw his current girlfriend in a car with another man and he side-swiped them. She said she doesn't know why he didn't pull over and turn himself in.
"He never carried a gun. He was a little guy, probably 5-feet-4 or something. He never carried a gun. He didn't own any weapons."
Staff writer Rusty Marks contributed to this report.
Reach Gary Harki at gha...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5163.
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