A 52-year-old Dillwyn man who pursued another vehicle through two counties while firing shots at the occupants will spend one year in jail after pleading guilty to four felony charges in Cumberland and Buckingham circuit courts.

Kenneth Bruce Mount pleaded guilty to maliciously shooting at an occupied vehicle in Buckingham and pleaded guilty to maliciously shooting at a vehicle, shooting a firearm from a vehicle and bribing a witness in Cumberland. He was not prosecuted on a felony charge of reckless endangerment.

Police say Mount shot at another vehicle while chasing it through Buckingham and Cumberland counties on Dec. 2 following a hunting incident in Buckingham.

Police also charged Darwin Valesquez, 27, of Prospect, with hunting from a vehicle, trespassing, assault and driving with a suspended license in connection with the incident leading to the chase and gunfire.

According to Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries spokesman Lee Walker, Velasquez allegedly shot at a deer from the roadway. Walker said the deer was standing in proximity of Mount’s son.

“(Velasquez) … then drives off and leaves the scene. He then returns later with his brother to look for the deer. The hunter on the private property calls (Mount). (Mount) and his son go to the road where the shot came from to investigate,” Walker said.

Walker said an altercation took place between Mount and Velasquez, who then allegedly retrieved a rifle from his vehicle and displayed it.

“(Mount) pursued the vehicle through Buckingham and Cumberland counties,” Walker said. “(Mount) appears to have fired one shot that struck the back window of the fleeing vehicle, breaking the back window and then entering the interior … (Mount) ends the pursuit just before entering the Farmville town limits and then turns around. The individual who shot the deer from the road called the police for assistance.”

No one was injured during the altercation.

Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries Sgt. James Slaughter said lead investigator Officer Jessica Whirley could not say with 100 percent certainly Mount isn’t the landowner of the property where the initial incident tookplace.

“But she’s fairly confident that it’s leased property,” Slaughter said.

Regarding the felony bribery charge, Slaughter said Mount approached one of the victims involved in the incident.

“(He) made an offer to, I guess, try to … prevent it from coming to court. He made some sort of offer to them in an effort to prevent our witnesses, which were, of course, in this case, the victims, from attending court,” Slaughter said, who did not know specifics of the actual bribe. “It was believed to be an attempt to avoid prosecution for the shooting into an occupied vehicle.”

Mount received suspended jail sentences in both circuit courts on the felony charges, along with probation, good behavior, restitution and court costs. 

Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Dennis Ownby said the call originally came to deputies.

“Once we determined it happened in Buckingham, we called them,” Ownby said. “We’ve got impacts all over the place and they go through (the truck). There’s probably four or five just on the windshield.”