Teen Gets 10 Years For Crash That Killed Officer

INDIANAPOLIS -- A teenager who authorities said drove a stolen van and caused a crash that killed a Lawrence police officer last year was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison.

Dennis Sloan, 16, pleaded guilty to auto theft and resisting law enforcement causing death in connection with the wreck that killed Lawrence police Officer Craig Herbert.

Authorities said Dennis Sloan, then 15, was driving a stolen van and leading police on a chase on March 5, 2005, when the van broadsided a patrol car driven by Herbert.

Herbert, 34, died as a result of the crash. He was the Lawrence Police Department's first officer to die in the line of duty.

Sloan's sentence was part of a deal in which he agreed to plead guilty to the two charges. If he had refused the deal and was convicted, he could have faced a sentence of up to 23 years in prison.