HILLSDALE — A Homer man facing a slew of criminal charges from a police chase Dec. 18, 2024, that started in the city of Hillsdale and ended when he rammed police cruisers before crashing into a utility pole in Allen is considering a plea offer.
Ellis Lonzo Howard II, 25, appeared in the 1st Judicial Circuit Court of Hillsdale County Monday, Jan. 13 for a criminal pretrial conference where his attorney, Elias Muawad, requested a two-week adjournment to give him time to discuss a plea bargain being offered by the Hillsdale County Prosecutor’s Office to resolve the case.
Details of the plea bargain offered were not disclosed Monday in open court.
Howard will next appear in the circuit court for a continued pretrial conference at 1 p.m. Monday, Feb. 3.
Howard is alleged to have run a red light in the city of Hillsdale which led to a Hillsdale City Police Office initiating a traffic stop around 1:30 a.m. Dec. 18, 2024.
Instead of stopping, Howard took off at a high rate of speed and fled with officers in pursuit.
“His driving behavior became very erratic and it became a public safety issue,” Hillsdale City Police Chief Scott Hephner said in a telephone interview with The Hillsdale Daily News at the time. “Everybody’s cautious on pursuits but when they’re doing something that poses a threat to the public we’ve got to do something.”
Speeds reached over 100 miles per hour as Howard led officers down back country roads once out of the city of Hillsdale before he eventually found his way to U.S. 12 where he turned westbound towards Branch County.
As officers were attempting to deploy stop-sticks to bring Howard’s vehicle to a controlled stop, he rammed police cruisers.
In total, Howard is accused of ramming two city of Hillsdale police vehicles and a Michigan State Police cruiser.
Howard was formally arraigned Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in the 2B District Court on four counts of felonious assault (for ramming police cruisers), two counts of malicious destruction of private property, second-degree flee/elude police and operating while intoxicated causing serious bodily impairment.
Judge Megan Stiverson during arraignment said officers had probable cause to show Howard was under the influence of marijuana and alcohol at the time of his arrest.
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A female passenger in his pickup truck was seriously injured in the crash and required hospitalization, Hephner said.
Howard, who is on misdemeanor probation out of Calhoun County and has a pending criminal case in Jackson County, was also charged with driving without insurance and driving while license suspended.
Stiverson ordered Howard be held on a $100,000 cash bond. He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted as charged.
— Contact Reporter Corey Murray at cmurray@hillsdale.net or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @cmurrayHDN.
This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Plea bargain offered to Homer man who rammed patrol cars pursuit