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110-MPH chase through Flint Hill brings prison time

by | Jun 12, 2026

(Photo/Luke Christopher)

Driver: Plea agreement not ‘fair enough’

A Front Royal man was sentenced to two years and five months in prison Monday after pleading guilty in Rappahannock County Circuit Court to charges stemming from a high-speed chase through Flint Hill last September that reached 110 mph.

Donald Jett, 46, appeared before Judge Douglas Fleming with his attorney, John Clark, who told the judge that a plea agreement had been reached. Jett pleaded guilty to reckless driving by speed in excess of 85 mph and felony eluding police. A third charge of general reckless driving was not prosecuted as part of the deal.

According to a criminal complaint, on Sept. 1, 2024, a deputy clocked Jett’s silver Lexus doing 71 mph in a 55 mph zone on Zachary Taylor Highway heading towards Flint Hill. Rather than stopping when the deputy activated his lights and sirens, Jett accelerated, the complaint said, to 110 mph before entering the village where he continued at 105 mph in a posted 25 mph zone.

The complaint said he turned sharply onto Fodderstack Road, lost control and struck an embankment at a nearby residence before continuing on and eventually stopping at a driveway, where he got out of the car with his hands raised.

“The driver exited the vehicle, saying, ‘I give up. It’s all good,’” according to written facts of the case accompanying the plea agreement. Jett’s wife was also in the car. When asked why he fled, the document said he answered that he had “just gotten out of prison” and was “afraid of the police because of past experiences.”

Before his sentencing, Jett told the judge he was sorry for what he had done, but said he did not think the plea agreement was “fair enough” based on sentences he had seen in similar cases.

“I still don’t think this is a fair enough plea because I’ll be away from my family for a long time,” Jett said. “But I’m remorseful and just want to get this over with.”

After hearing Jett’s thoughts on the agreement, the judge asked him to confirm that he was entering it freely. Jett said he was, and the judge accepted the agreement.

In addition to the sentence of two years and five months of active time, the judge suspended an additional three years and seven months. He also suspended Jett’s license for 18 months and ordered three years of probation upon release.

Author

  • Ireland Hayes

    Ireland joined Foothills Forum as a full-time reporter in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a degree in journalism and minor in music. As a student, she gained valuable experience in reporter and editor positions at The Red & Black, an award-winning student newspaper, and contributed to Grady Newsource and the Athens Banner-Herald. She spent three years as an editorial assistant at Georgia Magazine, UGA’s quarterly alumni publication, and interned with The Bitter Southerner.
    Growing up in a small town in Southeast Georgia, Ireland developed a deep appreciation for rural communities and the unique stories they have to tell. She completed undergraduate research on news deserts, ghost papers and the ways rural communities in Georgia are being forced to adapt to a lack of local news. This research further sparked her interest in a career contributing to the preservation of local and rural news.
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By Ireland Hayes

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Ireland joined Foothills Forum as a full-time reporter in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a degree in journalism and minor in music. As a student, she gained valuable experience in reporter and editor positions at The Red & Black, an award-winning student newspaper, and contributed to Grady Newsource and the Athens Banner-Herald. She spent three years as an editorial assistant at Georgia Magazine, UGA’s quarterly alumni publication, and interned with The Bitter Southerner. Growing up in a small town in Southeast Georgia, Ireland developed a deep appreciation for rural communities and the unique stories they have to tell. She completed undergraduate research on news deserts, ghost papers and the ways rural communities in Georgia are being forced to adapt to a lack of local news. This research further sparked her interest in a career contributing to the preservation of local and rural news.