Man Who Set Salem Police on Chase, Fired Shots Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison

A 21-year-old man has been sentenced to 28 months in prison after being arrested in 2022 for his role in a violent police chase.

Vincent Nesbitt pleaded guilty, as part of a negotiated plea agreement, to unauthorized use of a vehicle and unlawful use of a firearm for an incident involving a police pursuit following a vehicle theft.

In November 2022, a woman reported to Salem police that two men had attempted to steal her car at gunpoint, according to a news release. The woman had pulled over to the side of the road to take a phone call when two men approached her car and tried to open the doors. They were unsuccessful because the doors were locked, but one of the men pointed a gun at her. She was able to drive off and reported the incident to a police officer she saw parked nearby.

The officer had received a report of a similar incident three days earlier and passed the information on.

Salem police were investigating the earlier incident, in which a vehicle was stolen at gunpoint, and were monitoring traffic cameras for the stolen vehicle, the statement said.

A surveillance camera picked up the stolen vehicle’s license plate about a half-hour before the attempted carjacking and the information was shared with Salem Police Corporal Joshua Buker, who was on duty. Four minutes after the attempted carjacking, the car was again spotted on surveillance camera.

Police officers swarmed the area to search for the attackers. One officer identified the vehicle, pulled up behind it and activated his lights and sirens. The vehicle did not stop and sped off as the driver attempted to flee. The officer attempted to follow, but stopped when the pursuit endangered pedestrians.

Buker located the vehicle a few minutes later and began pursuing it. After a few turns, three people got out of the car and fled. Buker chased them and noticed one of the suspects rummaging through a bag, so he pulled out his gun.

Two of them ended up in the driveway of a house that appeared to be occupied. One of them was never found, the statement said.

Buker then heard a gunshot and saw what he believed to be a muzzle flash. He returned fire with three shots. Nesbitt and another person surrendered and were taken into custody. A firearm was found next to Nesbitt. No one was injured.

An investigation revealed that Nesbitt fired the weapon once.

Later that month, a Marion County grand jury unanimously found that Buker had been justified in his use of deadly force.

The other person arrested was charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle, but the charge was dropped in December 2022.

Nesbitt was initially charged with attempted first-degree murder with a firearm, attempted first-degree assault with a firearm, unlawful use of a weapon with a firearm and unauthorized use of a vehicle.

He pleaded guilty, as part of a negotiated plea agreement, to unauthorized use of a vehicle and unlawful use of a weapon with a firearm after the investigation revealed it could not be proven whether he fired the gun directly at Buker or if it was an accidental shooting.

Isabel Funk covers news and public safety for the Statesman Journal. Funk can be reached at [email protected] or on X at @isabeldfunk