A San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy tried to pull over a car in Phelan Tuesday night over suspected license plate and registration violations, but the driver did not stop, leading to a pursuit that ended when the vehicle slammed into a parked car. The driver, identified as 44-year-old Nathan Allen Miller, was arrested at the scene and later booked on suspicion of evading a peace officer and possessing drugs for sale, along with several outstanding warrants.
A Stop That Didn't Stop
The incident unfolded just before 9 p.m. on November 10 near Beekley Road and Nielson Road in Phelan, according to VVNG. Deputies attempted to stop Miller's vehicle over the suspected plate and registration issues, but he failed to yield and continued violating traffic laws as deputies pursued him, according to Jenny Smith, a spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.
When the vehicle finally came to a stop, Miller tried to get out without putting it in park, Smith said. The car kept moving and struck a parked vehicle nearby. It's a chaotic end that echoes an earlier Phelan-area pursuit, when a 2021 chase reported by Pain In The Pass stretched 34 miles over about 30 minutes before ending in flames on Highway 138 at the Interstate 15 interchange, with a passenger tossing a loaded, stolen handgun from the car along the way.
Scale, Baggies and Suspected Narcotics
After the crash, deputies searched Miller's vehicle and reported finding a scale, several resealable plastic bags and suspected narcotics, per Smith's account to the same outlet. Those findings led to his booking at the High Desert Detention Center on suspicion of evading a peace officer with disregard for safety under Vehicle Code 2800.2(a) and possession of a controlled substance for sale under Health and Safety Code 11351.
Miller was also booked on several outstanding warrants, the report notes. Booking records cited in the same report list separate cases tied to Miller involving driving under the influence of a drug, carrying a loaded firearm in public, driving with a suspended license and petty theft.
Bail Set, Court Date Ahead
Those same booking records list $50,000 bail on the evading and drug charges and show a court appearance scheduled for 8 a.m. this Friday, November 13, in Department NF of Victorville Superior Court. No outcome for that hearing or disposition of the listed charges and warrants has been reported.
Pursuits like the one in Phelan are not isolated statewide. A California Highway Patrol legislative report noted the agency was involved in 3,736 vehicle pursuits in 2022, including multiagency chases, with 187 of those pursuits resulting in injury crashes that left 316 people hurt, according to the CHP data. The Phelan case remains under the jurisdiction of San Bernardino County authorities as it heads toward Friday's court date.
