JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville man accused of stealing a vehicle with a 71-year-old man inside and crashing into a ditch in 2022 was found not guilty by reason of insanity in a Duval County Court on Wednesday.
Gregory Drummond, 48, was facing charges of attempted murder, kidnapping, carjacking, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill and resisting an officer with violence.
Witnesses described seeing Drummond erratically driving a pickup truck along Argyle Forest Boulevard in the afternoon of Aug. 3, 2022, when he intentionally crashed into the back of a vehicle he was tailgating, lost control, and crashed into the back of a trailer being pulled by a truck, an arrest report states.
The three vehicles involved in the crash stopped on the side of the roadway.
Both the drivers of the vehicles involved went to check on Drummond and said he became "irate" and started cursing and yelling at them, according to the report.
The driver of the truck involved said after yelling at the other driver, Drummond ran in the opposite direction, got into his truck and drove off with a 71-year-old passenger inside.
According to police, the passenger armed himself with a handgun, pointed it at Drummond, and said "get out of the vehicle or I will kill you."
Drummond proceeded to get into the driver's seat and said "just kill me, just kill me," the report states.
The passenger attempted to stop Drummond from starting the vehicle, resulting in Drummond striking the man in his left eye rendering him unable to see. Drummond started the truck and drove away.
"The suspect continued to scream and laugh uncontrollably while driving," the arrest report states.
After traveling roughly three miles, Drummond told the passenger he was going to kill them both, and drove the truck into a ditch.
The report said Drummond left the passenger trapped inside and attempted to flee the scene, but was stopped by an off-duty police officer who attempted to detain him.
When a responding officer arrived, they attempted to handcuff Drummond, which he resisted.
The officer deployed his stun gun on Drummond as he yelled, "you can't hurt me, you can't hurt me."
After Drummond was struck a second time by the stun gun, he stopped resisting and was handcuffed.
The 71-year-old passenger was taken to the hospital for multiple injuries he sustained in both crashes.
During a deposition hearing on Wednesday, the court accepted a stipulation citing the result of Drummond's mental evaluations from two doctors at the request of the state.
Both doctor's evaluations concluded Drummond was not guilty of his action at the time of the crime because he was insane.
The judge accepted the stipulation with the doctor's findings and placed Drummond on a conditional release plan with the Mental Health Resource Center on Wednesday, which is a court-ordered plan to provide care and treatment for those deemed not guilty by reason of insanity.
The judge set a review for the case on Dec. 16, 2024.
