By Pat Culverhouse
A Minden man has been arrested after leading local police officers on a high speed chase which ended when his vehicle crashed in a roadside ditch in Bienville Parish.
Chief of Police Jared McIver said Officer First Class Johnna Traylor attempted to stop a vehicle driven by 27-year-old Martez Morris Miller for a traffic violation on Homer Rd. just after 3:15 a.m. Wednesday. Miller, a resident of the 300 block of E. Lorex Rd., was reportedly driving without visible tail lights.
When the officer initiated emergency lights and siren, Miller reportedly turned onto Fincher Rd. and accelerated to speeds up to 97 miles per hour. Miller reportedly ran a stop sign at the intersection of U.S. Hwy. 80, turned east and attempted to flee two Minden police units.
Numerous times during the high-speed chase, Miller reportedly ran stop signs, drove off the roadway and drove into the oncoming lane of traffic on the two-lane highway. He reportedly wrecked his vehicle around 3:30 a.m., causing a roll-over into the ditch in the opposite lane of traffic on Hwy. 80 near the town of Gibsland.
Miller reportedly fled the scene on foot into a wooded area, but was apprehended by MPD Officer Randle Carter. Miller reportedly was placed in the custody of Bienville Parish deputies and taken to Bienville Medical Center for observation.
Following his release from the hospital, he was returned to Minden where he is charged with aggravated flight from an officer, resisting an officer, no tail lamps and improper turn.
He currently is being held at Bayou Dorcheat Correctional Center under a bond of $502 on three charges. No bon has been set on the felony charge of aggravated flight from an officer.
This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.