By: Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Stillwater man has been jailed on $10,000 bail on charges of attempting to elude a Perkins police officer on Highway 177 at Highway 33 by increasing his speed and passing an accident scene at 100 mph, running a roadblock set up by Stillwater police, driving on a revoked license, and obstructing an officer by refusing to show his identification during a traffic stop.
If convicted of all four counts, Lee Anthony Coulter, 31, could be incarcerated for 12 years and fined $11,000, according to the charge filed last week.
Coulter was arrested by Perkins Police Officer Daryn Zanfardino at 11:13 pm on Aug. 2 at 19th and Perkins Road in Stillwater — after initially stopping him for a broken tail lamp on Highway 177 at Highway 33, an affidavit alleged.
When Coulter refused to show his ID and step out of the vehicle, the Perkins officer tried to open the driver’s door that was locked and then opened the back driver’s side door to reach to unlock the driver’s door — but Colter began driving north, the affidavit alleged.
The Perkins officer returned to his patrol car and radioed, “I would be in pursuit of the vehicle northbound from Highway 177 and 104th with speeds at 105 mph,” the affidavit alleged.
“While traveling northbound on 177 in the area of 44th, the Chevrolet passed multiple fire and State Highway Patrol vehicles that were attending to an accident on the side of the road that had their emergency lights on. The Chevrolet failed to slow down for the vehicles on the side of the road and maintained speeds of over 100 mph,” the affidavit alleged.
“Stillwater Police Department set up a roadblock and spike sticks just south of the intersection of Highway 177 and 19th Streets in Stillwater,” which the driver avoided by driving north into the outside southbound lane, the affidavit alleged.
After the vehicle hit a curb and came to a stop on the west side of 19th and Perkins Road in Stillwater, the Perkins officer ordered the unknown driver to the ground at gunpoint, the affidavit alleged. A Stillwater police officer handed the Perkins officer Coulter’s Oklahoma identification card, the affidavit alleged.
After Coulter’s arrest, the Perkins officer learned that he also had arrest warrants through the city of Perkins and another agency, the affidavit said.
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