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NILES — The man who crashed into Saylor’s Pizza on the city’s west side in late September was sentenced Monday in Berrien County Trial Court.

Jaquan Deon Chestnut, 22, of Chicago Heights, Ill., pleaded guilty to third degree fleeing and eluding police and resisting and obstructing police and was sentenced to two concurrent terms of 180 days in jail with credit for 104 days already served. He must pay $326 in fines and costs.

Restitution to Saylor’s and to the car rental company will be determined at a later date. The Saylor’s building was destroyed in the incident.

The incident began in Bertrand Township on Sept. 24 when a Berrien County Sheriff’s Office deputy was on patrol on US-12 and observed a vehicle driving at an excessive speed. The deputy attempted to initiate a traffic stop but the suspect vehicle then fled from the attempted traffic stop and the deputy gave chase engaging in a brief vehicular pursuit.

The pursuit ended when Chestnut’s vehicle lost control attempting to negotiate a curve and crashed into Saylor’s Pizza in the 300 block of Lincoln Ave. in the City of Niles. He sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was taken into custody without incident at the scene of the crash. The crash ignited a fire and caused significant structural damage to Saylor’s.

      Defense attorney Carri Briseno noted that Chestnut has no prior criminal record and asked for probation and credit for time served. “There is a significant amount of restitution in this case, I do know the building and vehicle were destroyed,” she said.

      “He has had time to think about his life and get serious about his life,” she added. “He wants to get out and he is committed to paying the restitution.”

      Chestnut said he had learned his lesson and was sorry for the actions he took. He said he fled police initially because he was scared and had no license.

      “You made that choice and additional choices when the police officer came up behind you,” Berrien County Trial Court Judge Jennifer Smith said. “You are so lucky that no one was killed when you crashed and there was a fire.”

“You need to change the way you’re living your life,” she added. “It’s time to grow up and get a job. Everything you were doing on this day was wrong. You were driving 140 or 150 miles per hour and put others including officers at risk. This isn’t a good start to the rest of your life.”