A 55-year-old man received a 40-year prison sentence on Dec. 19, 2025, after jurors found him guilty of evading arrest with a vehicle.
Lee Haskin appeared in the Lamb County 154th District Court for the incident that occurred on January 21 in 2020. The trial lasted two days, with Haskin’s sentencing prompting additional unique circumstances.
“I hope that the message sent through the swift conviction and strong sentence is: the rule of law matters here, and the safety of our peace officers and people on our roadways matters,” Lamb County District Attorney Rickie Redman said.
The Texas Penal Code classifies evading arrest with a vehicle as a thirddegree felony, carrying a punishment of between two and ten years in prison and fines up to $10,000. However, Haskin’s criminal history prompted habitual enhancements and increased his sentence.
Habitual enhancements increase penalties for repeat felony offenders. Before the January 2020 incident, Haskin served prison time for burglary and aggravated assault charges in 1999.
On the night of the 2020 incident, at approximately 8: 25 p. m., then- Lamb County patrol deputy Travis Johnson drove down Waylon Jennings Boulevard when a call about a rolling domestic came in.
The call detailed a dispute between two drivers, one being Haskins and another vehicle with two females. The female driver called 911, claiming Haskins attempted to drive them off the road.
Coincidentally, the two cars drove parallel to Johnson’s vehicle toward the sheriff’s office as the call came in.
While the vehicle with the two females pulled into the sheriff’s office, Haskin made a U-turn and fled in the opposite direction toward the traffic light. Johnson turned on his lights to initiate a traffic stop.
Failing to stop, Haskin accelerated and took off down Hall Avenue. Dashcam footage presented to the jurors depicts this along with the rainy conditions at the time of the incident.
Continuing the pursuit, Haskin led Johnson down Delano Avenue. before making an immediate right turn on US-385 and another turn toward the residential areas down Martin Luther King Boulevard. Haskin made a final turn on Texas Avenue before parking the car and running toward Lonnie Twitty’s home.
Johnson testified hearing glass break in the direction Haskin fled, but stayed behind to establish a perimeter around the home.
As more officers arrived on the scene, Twitty and another female came out of the home and invited officers inside. The two remained oblivious about what unfolded.
Bodycam footage depicted the broken storm door Haskin broke in through. Upon entering the home, officers located Haskin hiding behind a couch.
“ You’re lucky you weren’t shot that night,” Judge William Sowder said.
While Haskin did not testify, the state presented Haskin’s criminal history and two witness accounts of threats he made against them. However, Judge Sowder did not consider the witnesses’ accounts because they did not know Haskin was the one behind the threats.
Aside from the January 2020 incident, Haskin is facing two misdemeanor of-fenses for terroristic threat and harassment in Castro County. Previously, Haskin faced burglary and assault charges in 1999, family violence charges in 2009, an evading arrest charge in 2011 and criminal mischief charges in 2012.
Jurors deliberated for less than 8 minutes before delivering a guilty verdict. Judge Sowder emphasized his decision for the longer sentence, citing Haskin’s actions as violent and dangerous to others.
“The court wants the sentence to match the offense,” Sowder said. “The law is gonna apply to you no matter how old you are.”