Car used as weapon during Stephens County pursuit lands Duncan man felony charges

DUNCAN — A Stephens County man is in jail on $50,000 bond after he was accused of using his car as a weapon against police while trying to elude capture Sunday night.

Michael Allen Newman, 28, of Duncan, made his initial appearance where he was charged with felony counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol – second and subsequent, endangering others while eluding/attempting to elude police and two counts of running a road block, records indicate.

Duncan Police Officer Olaf Hanson stated he was stopped at 2nd Street and Sycamore Avenue around 3:30 a.m. Sunday when he saw a car turn onto Magnolia Avenue. The officer followed and saw the car blow through a stop sign before trying to stop the car, driven by Newman, the probable cause affidavit states. The car sped up and went through another stop sign at Bois D’arc Road, according to the officer.

The pursuit went through several streets with the car blowing through several stop signs before going through a parking lot on the corner of 12th Street and Bois D’arc, Hanson stated. The car blew out a tire when hitting a curb but continued back onto Bois D’arc, the affidavit states.

Several more stop signs were disobeyed as the pursuit reached Elm Terrace Apartments, 206 E. Elm, and another officer set up a road block at one exit. Newman maneuvered around the police unit and exited the apartment complex making his way to Ridley Road where he went off the roadway to the right for a short distance into a ditch, the affidavit states. The car got back onto old Oklahoma 7 and turned into the gravel parking lot of Eastland Gas Station where Hanson stated he was able to pin the car briefly against a trash dumpster before Newman got away.

Police said Newman then ran another road block and as another officer he got out, he had to dive back inside his unit as Newman hit his driver’s side door causing the officer’s shoulder and elbow to be pushed inward, according to the affidavit. Newman continued speeding and blowing through stop signs until going out of control and crashing into a ditch at the intersection of 4th Street and Willow Avenue, Hanson stated. Officers approached the car with guns drawn.

Officers tried to bring Newman out of the car and while hearing the driver attempting to get out of the ditch, another officer used his baton to bust open a window before using it on Newman until being able to put the car into park, the affidavit states. Newman was taken into custody and police discovered a 24-ounce beer under the passenger seat.

Newman told police he’d taken his aunt’s car without permission, and he ran because he was scared and had no license, according to the affidavit. A blood draw was taken for analysis to determine if he was driving under the influence, Hanson stated.

Newman has a prior misdemeanor conviction in Stephens County from September 2020, records indicate.

A preliminary hearing conference was scheduled for Newman at 9 a.m. Dec. 20.