NewsChannel5.com | Nashville News, Weather & SportsSuspects In Court For Shooting Sgt. Mark Chesnut

Suspects In Court For Shooting Sgt. Mark Chesnut

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The two men accused of critically injuring a Metro police officer last month were in court Tuesday. Joseph Jackson and Courtney Logan had their preliminary hearing.

The duo was led into court under heavy security. Both men are charged with attempted murder.

"They're in deep trouble and I hope they go to prison for the rest of their natural life on earth and after their life on earth I hope they go to prison in hell," said Metro Police Chief Ronal Serpas.

Serpas along with dozens of other officers attended the preliminary hearing.

"These two cowards did everything they could to deny Mark of his right to live," said Serpas.

Investigators said the day in late June started when Logan helped Jackson escape from prison custody in Mississippi.

Jackson was serving a life sentence for armed robbery and aggravated assault. On the day in question around 1 p.m., Chesnut stopped the pair's 2008 rented dodge magnum on I-40 in Bellevue after noticing Logan was not wearing a seat belt.

While Chesnut ran a check on the plate Jackson walked back to the officer's patrol car and shot him several times through the passenger window.
PHOTOS: Metro Police Sergeant Shot On I-40

In court detective Norris Tarkington revealed the events of that day.

"He was able to get on the radio and notify officer Bill Morgan that he'd been shot and you could actually here him on the radio trying to call the dispatcher," said Tarkington. "He actually received 5 gun shots - 2 through the protective vest and there were 3 others that actually struck parts of his body."

Jackson admitted to investigators after being caught a short time later. Serpas dismissed his admission of sorrow as one final ploy.

"He realized the world was coming down around him and he was trying to get out of it. He was trying to make it look like he was a sorry guy. He ain't sorry for nothing neither one of those punks is sorry for anything," said Serpas.

Jackson's and Logan's case was bound over to the grand jury. Both men remained in jail on $3 million bond each.

Chesnut has been released from the hospital and continuing his recovery in a rehabilitation center.