Prison sentence issued in chase, officer assault

Discussion

September 21, 2012

Prison sentence issued in chase, officer assault

By BRAD KELLAR Herald-Banner Staff The Herald-Banner Fri Sep 21, 2012, 10:52 AM CDT

GREENVILLE — A Royse City man has been sentenced to prison, after pleading guilty to charges of evading arrest and aggravated assault in connection with a chase in January.

Mickey Dean Durham Jr. entered the pleas Wednesday, to one count each of evading arrest with a motor vehicle and aggravated assault against a public servant, during a hearing in the 196th District Court.

Under a plea bargain arrangement Durham, 35, was sentenced to 12 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice-Institutional Division on the aggravated assault charge and seven years in prison on the evading arrest count. Judge Steve Tittle also assessed a $1,000 fine in each case.

As a deadly weapon, the vehicle Durham was driving, was found to have been used during the offense, Durham will have to spend at least half of the sentence in prison before he can be considered eligible for parole.

Durham was indicted in connection with a January 9 pursuit by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Highway Patrol. Durham initially eluded a law enforcement manhunt following the chase, only to be captured near Caddo Mills later the same day.

Following a report of a stolen car in Van Zandt County, a DPS trooper allegedly encountered Durham on U.S. Highway 69 near Lone Oak shortly after midnight that morning and performed a traffic stop, at which point he discovered there was a warrant out for Durham’s arrest.

Durham reportedly drove off and the trooper gave chase through Greenville and onto westbound U.S. Highway 380, south on FM 36 and eventually onto Interstate 30, where Durham abandoned the car near the FM 1570 exit and fled on foot. The initial manhunt that began shortly thereafter ended late that morning.

During the evening of January 9, an off duty Rowlett Police Department officer spotted Durham at the Pilot Truck Stop at Interstate 30 and FM 1903 and gave chase alongside Hunt County Deputy Warrant Officer Mike Ball. Durham reportedly ran back into the woods to the north side of the interstate.

Greenville Police Officer Robert Pemberton and K-9 Ceiko were able to flush Durham from the heavy brush and Sgt. Lynn Booth of the Caddo Mills Police Department took Durham into custody behind Nelson’s Fireworks at around 7 p.m. that night.

The aggravated assault against a public servant charge is a first degree felony, punishable upon conviction by a maximum sentence of from five to 99 years to life in prison and an optional fine of up to $10,000, while the evading arrest count carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison.