By Derek Spellman

dspellman@joplinglobe.com

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Neosho man accused of shooting and wounding two Neosho police officers in March 2007 was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison without parole on a separate but related federal charge of illegal possession of firearms Friday, according the office of the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

Adam Bridgewater, 21, had pleaded guilty to the charge earlier this year. He was indicted on the weapons charge after authorities in March 2007 found more than a dozen weapons — including an Ithaca 12-gauge shotgun, a Ruger .22-caliber rifle, two banana-style magazines loaded with .22-caliber ammunition, a loaded Remington 20-gauge shotgun, a Harrington & Richardson .410-gauge shotgun, and Uniden scanners — in his vehicle and a storage shed.

Bridgewater was charged in federal court both because he possessed firearms despite a previous conviction for felony property damage and because some of the firearms were stolen, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

The weapons that triggered the federal charge were found just after Bridgewater was taken into custody on March 16, 2007, after a pursuit and several exchanges of gunfire with local authorities.

In Newton County, Bridgewater is charged with four counts of first-degree assault on law-enforcement officers and four counts of armed-criminal action in relation to the incident.

Bridgewater is accused of shooting Sgt. Dan Cook of the Neosho Police Department in the arm when Cook stopped a vehicle Bridgewater was driving March 16 in Neosho. A chase ensued in which Bridgewater allegedly shot Officer Michael Sharp in the face through the windshield of his patrol car. Bridgewater also is accused in Newton County of shooting at Trooper Grant Hendrix of the Missouri State Highway Patrol at two points as the chase continued south of the city limits.

Bridgewater was originally scheduled to go to trial on the eight charges next week, but Newton County Prosecutor Jacob Skouby said Bridgewater instead is expected to enter an open plea to three counts of assaulting a law enforcement officer in the first degree and three counts of armed-criminal action on Wednesday. He will likely be sentenced for those charges at a later date, Skouby said.

Bridgewater also faces seven felony counts in McDonald County, where he is accused of firing at deputies there and ramming one of their vehicles on March 16, 2007. That case remains in McDonald County Associate Court. A hearing has not been set in that case.

A look back

Trooper Grant Hendrix of the Missouri State Highway Patrol was awarded the Missouri Medal of Valor for his response to the Bridgewater shooting incident.