A 27-year-old Twin Ports man who last autumn rammed his vehicle into two U.S. Marshals' squad cars has been sentenced to two years in a federal prison.
Shawn Michael Olthooff was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Court Judge Patrick Schiltz and ordered to pay $6,748.67 in restitution.
Until he was apprehended by authorities, Olthoff had recent addresses in Duluth and Superior.
Olthoff was indicted in November on two counts of assault upon a federal law enforcement officer. He waived his right to a trial by jury. He was convicted March 19.
On Oct. 28, 2011, U.S. Marshals were trying to arrest Olthoff in North Branch, Minn., for violating terms of his parole from federal prison on a 2004 conviction on a firearms charge. Olthoff tried to flee the scene in a vehicle driven by his girlfriend. The deputies blocked the vehicle with their cars and ordered the pair to surrender. Eventually, Olthoff's girlfriend gave herself up, but Olthoff jumped into the driver's seat, started the car, and rammed the two officers' vehicles. A high-speed chase ensued, during which Olthoff struck a number of other vehicles before crashing his car in a cornfield and fleeing on foot. He was apprehended the next day in a rural Pine City residence.
