South Miami man led police on a chase. He collapsed in court after hearing sentence
When being told Friday he would spend 30 years in prison for ramming his pickup truck into police cars and almost hitting officers after a chase, Kevin Prater didn’t cry, shake his head or freeze in shock.
Instead, he collapsed.
Around 11 a.m., Prater stood before Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Richard Hersch possibly hoping to hear a light sentence for a slew of charges, including eight counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and seven counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.
The 42-year-old South Miami man had just pleaded guilty. Then, he began crying as he detailed his suffering since he has been behind bars since late November 2024.
The crime that he openly admitted to, without having a plea deal from the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, occurred on November 20, 2024. Prosecutors were seeking a 25-year sentence.
The then-Miami-Dade Police Department and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security tried to arrest Prater in a case regarding stalking allegations, but he instead drove away, kicking off a high-speed chase, his arrest report read.
He drove erratically, crashed into several police cruisers, nearly running over six officers and ultimately crashing into a 70-year-old man’s car while he was still inside.
Judge Hersch was unmoved by Prater’s claimed suffering. The judge sent him to prison for three decades, saying it was a “mistake” to have placed Prater on probation in a prior case.
In 2023, Prater was ordered to complete 10 years of drug-offender probation for a Miami-Dade burglary charge, Florida prison records show.
After his sentence was announced on Friday, Prater almost immediately collapsed with a loud thud that echoed through Courtroom 4-6 in the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building. A dozen Corrections officers swarmed the courtroom as Hersch rushed out, escorted by a bailiff.
The unconscious Prater was wheeled out on a gurney as officers cleared the hallways and trailed paramedics. Miami Fire Rescue told the Miami Herald that Prater was alert and talking to paramedics when they took him to Jackson Memorial Hospital. He’s in stable condition.
Prater will again have to face Hersch to complete the sentencing next week.
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