By Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — A 26-year-old Davenport man accused of attempting to elude an Iowa tribal police officer on Highway 33 at speeds of 120-140 mph, while driving on a suspended license and giving a false name when arrested, has been jailed on $20,000 bail pending an Aug. 5 court appearance.
Darius David Miller, who had been placed on two years’ probation six months earlier for possessing a stolen vehicle in Cushing in 2019, could be incarcerated for 12 years if convicted of his three-count charge filed in Payne County, court records show.
Iowa Tribe Police Officer Bailey Tucker wrote in an affidavit that at 11:36 am on July 13 he requested a check on a Cherokee nation tag in the north parking lot of the Cimarron Casino due to it being expired three months earlier. “Dispatch advised that the tag returned to a 2007 Jeep, but the tag was displayed on a 1997 red Pontiac Grand Prix,” the affidavit alleged.
When the Pontiac left the north parking lot and the officer attempted a traffic stop, “The driver continued increasing speed, failing to stop at the stop sign posted at the end of Perkins Rd. and turned west onto Highway 33. The vehicle was traveling at speeds of over 100 mph, swerving around vehicles and failing to signal any lane changes.
“The vehicle continued increasing its speed reaching over 125 mph on radar. The vehicle continued westbound and sped up and went around a vehicle forcing an oncoming vehicle in the opposite lane to depart the roadway and almost hit them head on. The vehicle continued westbound on Highway 33 fluctuating between 120-140 mph on radar and causing a significant danger to the motoring (public).
“The vehicle lost control and spun out at Highway 33 and Sangre Road,” but continued north at speeds of over 70 mph on Sangre Rd. and running stop signs until the driver lost control about a half-mile north of 104th Rd on 3200 Rd. and got stuck in a pasture — where the driver exited, the affidavit alleged.
“The suspect continued running into the woods at which point I lost visual sight of him. I returned to the suspect’s vehicle and collected the keys from the ignition,” along with a phone in the driver’s side floorboard to attempt to identify him, the officer alleged in his affidavit.
Almost six hours later at 5:15 pm, the tribal officer received a call from Perkins Police Officer Tyson Lester, who said his uncle contacted him to report there was a man outside his house in rural Coyle who matched the suspect’s description, the affidavit alleged. “Officer Lester advised that his uncle would be taking that suspect to Cushing per his request,” the affidavit said.
About 15 minutes later, when the tribal officer spotted the vehicle heading east on Highway 33 from Main Street in Perkins, he contacted the passenger during an investigative stop and asked him his name, the affidavit alleged. Miller gave a false name and hesitated on his birth date, the affidavit alleged. “I asked the suspect for his real name and date of birth, and he provided the name Darius Miller,” who had a suspended driver’s license, the tribal officer alleged in his affidavit.
After transporting Miller to the Iowa Tribal Police Department, “I asked Darius why he was seen inside the Cimarron Casino wearing the exact same clothes as the suspect and then seen leaving and getting into the suspect’s vehicle. At that point, Darius stated that he would like an attorney present, so I ceased all questioning even though Darius continued to ask questions related to him going to jail or not after the interview.
“I took pictures of the tattoos on both of Darius’s arms to positively identify him on surveillance footage at the Cimarron Casino,” before he was transported to the Payne County Jail, the tribal officer alleged in his affidavit.
