CLAY COUNTY, Mo. (KCTV) – A man is heading to prison after two police chases in 2025, including one where he was ‘carried like topsoil’ out of the woods by Clay County deputies.
Joseph A. Ford-Gray was sentenced in Clay County to 9 years for unlawful possession of a firearm and 6 years for aggravated fleeing, also known as Valentine’s Law. He had been placed on probation in Ray County the prior month for resisting arrest and tampering in the first degree.
The Clay County sentence will run consecutively to the Ray County sentence.
In April of 2025, Ford Gray fled from a traffic stop in Richmond, Missouri, and led officers down MO-210 into Clay County before crashing near Ameristar Casino, officials said. He ran into the woods, then claimed to be injured when officers found him and was carried over their backs into custody.
He pleaded guilty to resisting arrest by fleeing and tampering with a motor vehicle. In November 2025, he received a suspended sentence with five years of probation…