[2/19/04]An attorney has been assigned to represent the driver accused of intentionally running over a Warren County deputy sheriff.

Warren County Circuit Judge Isadore Patrick appointed Eugene Perrier to defend Ronald Vaughn, 23, 1402 Mauldin Drive. Vaughn is charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted.

Vaughn has been in the Hinds County Correctional Facility without bond since the Feb. 9 incident under a state statute that allows a suspect to be confined until the extent of a victim’s injuries is determined.

Warren County District Attorney Mike Bonner said a motion has been filed to revoke Vaughn’s 5-year probation from a 1999 charge, but that no hearing date has been set. Vaughn is also facing an armed robbery charge from September, but a grand jury has not considered that case.

In Jackson, Hollingsworth remains in intensive care at University Medical Center for the 10th day. Hollingsworth opened his eyes and responded to voices Friday, but has been heavily medicated since. After breathing on his own through the weekend, he was put back on a ventilator Monday.

Witnesses said that Hollingsworth, a 10-year veteran of law enforcement, was directing traffic for a funeral when Vaughn, driving a brown Buick, sped up to pass the procession on U.S. 80.

The Buick sedan he was said to be driving struck Hollingsworth, spun out of control and stopped in a nearby ravine. Witnesses said Vaughn climbed out of the hole and collapsed before police arrived.

He was taken to River Region Medical Center, where he was treated and released to the custody of the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol, which is conducting the investigation.

Separately, a revocation hearing has been set for 9 a.m. Feb. 27 for Marcus L. Wells, the driver of a car involved in a crash on Nov. 18 that resulted in the death of one man and serious head injury to 19-year-old Ricky White.

Wells, 28, 217 Hillside Drive, was convicted of DUI after the collision, but a police report found that he was not at fault in the wreck. Wells was, however, on probation at the time for a 2001 charge of business burglary. Bonner said he will ask the court to rule the DUI conviction a violation of the probationary sentence and return Wells to prison.