A man who pleaded guilty to stealing items from multiple people within the city of Urbana earlier this year was sent to prison Tuesday.
Jeffrey A. Whitt, 29, received a 45-month prison sentence during a sentencing hearing. Whitt previously pleaded guilty to felony charges of grand theft when the property is a firearm, possession of drugs, aggravated possession of drugs and violating a protection order during a May 9 plea hearing.
The charges stem from conduct that occurred on March 19 and 20.
The Urbana Police Division spent most of March 20 investigating complaints of overnight thefts from cars from the northwestern portion of the city.
At each scene, police recovered blood evidence as they thought the suspect possibly had been cut while stealing from the first vehicle and continued to bleed during the other crimes, leaving blood DNA at each scene.
They responded to a disturbance at the 68 Motel, 856 N. Main St., on that afternoon.
When officers went there to investigate they found that Whitt had rented a room for himself as well as three other people staying with him, in conflict with the rental agreement. One of the other people told officers that Whitt had just left the room prior to their arrival.
Inside the room, officers observed fresh blood in various places and learned that Whitt was bleeding. They also observed items listed as stolen from the car theft cases laying out in the room.
Whitt was taken into custody at gunpoint in the alleyway between the 200 block of East Church and Ward streets after a chase with Urbana police.
A journal entry on the sentencing hearing notes Whitt previously served a prison term for two 2011 cases in Champaign County and a prison term for a 2013 domestic violence case in Clark County. He was found to have violated his probation in February stemming from a Champaign County Municipal Court case for endangering children and theft.
In addition to the prison sentence, Whitt was ordered to pay back restitution in the amount of $317.
Upon his release, Whitt is subject to post-release control for a period of up to three years.
