Michael Mills Drives Off Bridge During Police Pursuit

[kellyhound]

CHESAPEAKE - A wanted felon fleeing police tried, and failed, to jump across an open drawbridge in Chesapeake. Emergency workers had to pull the driver and his car out of the Elizabeth River.

Michael Christopher Mills, a 38-year-old Chesapeake resident, was wanted on four counts of identity theft.

Police began pursuing Mills around 2:20 p.m. Tuesday on South Military Highway. The chase went several miles until he arrived at the Gilmerton Bridge and found the draw open.

He crashed his Nissan Maxima through the gate and attempted to make the jump. The car dropped about 10 feet and sunk in the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River.

According to a police spokesperson, driver, Michael Christopher Mills, Jr, 38, was being stopped and questioned by Chesapeake police in conjuction with the U.S. Postal Service on charges of felony id theft.

Mills was fished out of the water and taken to Norfolk General Hospital with cuts to his neck and arms.

He is facing felony eluding and property damage charges.

[gringo1965]

no fucking way OMFG .....................................

THAT'S IT ,,,, I'M DONE HERE ... I don't care , I'll hop on
The express ship ...
shitty fact is ... they have
they have a communication to
drop in person ..
No big deal . only it's in the outer most
reaches . Guaranteed never to
flourish . So , drop the mail there .. only 38.5 % of the trip is doubling back . May you live long and prosper . _--------- SPOCK , ? right ?
I have one more ,, may you never
run short on oxygen !!

[houseoftechno]

Man who drove off Gilmerton Bridge gets 12 years for ID theft

By TIM MCGLONE
THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
MAR 13, 2009 AT 12:00 AM



(sorry, second pic had to be linked due to web permissions)
Chesapeake Police watch as a Nissan Maxima with Kentucky tags is pulled out of the Elizabeth River at the Gilmerton Bridge on Sept. 9. (Barbara J. Woerner | special to The Virginian-Pilot)

NORFOLK

The day Michael C. Mills drove off the Gilmerton Bridge stands as a stark metaphor for his life.

The convicted sex offender was on the run from police that day. He was armed and had told a friend he would go down shooting. He went down all right, but not shooting.

When police fished him out of the Elizabeth River, they had four warrants waiting for him. Later, after discovering piles of mail in his possession, postal inspectors charged him with mail theft, identity theft and being a felon with a gun.

Mills, 39, was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to those three charges. U.S. District Judge Henry Coke Morgan Jr. agreed with the government's request that he get more time than sentencing guidelines recommended.

"I'm terribly sorry for all the trouble I've caused," Mills told the judge.

"I'm not a bad person. I made some bad decisions. I'm sorry for that. I'm truly, truly sorry," he said.

Mills has been in and out of jails and prison since he was a young man. He was convicted in 1993 of statutory rape, and after getting out of prison he was arrested and convicted numerous times for passing bad checks and obtaining money by false pretenses. He'll face additional state prison time for violating parole, authorities said.

Mills admitted in court to a three-month crime spree last summer involving stealing mail and cashing forged and stolen checks. He had been out of prison only about four months.

Postal Inspector Dustin Holland said Mills began stealing mail in the Blackwater and King James Colony sections of Chesapeake last June. He would find blank checks, forge them and cash them, or he would steal someone's identity, create a false ID card and cash checks in that person's name, Holland said.

Mills burglarized one Chesapeake home, stealing jewelry and pawning it, Holland said during testimony Thursday at Mills' sentencing hearing.

Mills used the proceeds to rent hotel rooms and buy drugs, including heroin and crack, that he gave to his girlfriend and to an 18-year-old girl, Holland said.

The girlfriend told authorities that Mills pistol-whipped her in a hotel room and threatened to "pump 24 rounds into her," Holland said.

The hotel manager called 911 after the girl came running out of the room screaming, " 'He's going to kill me! He's going to kill me,' " Holland said. They left before police arrived.

Mills knew the police had warrants for his arrest. He told his girlfriend, " 'I'm not going back to prison. I'm going down shooting,' " Holland said.

He was driving his girlfriend's car, with a gun behind him, on Sept. 9 when police tried to pull him over on Military Highway. Mills led them on a high-speed chase that ended when he tried to jump over the open span of the Gilmerton Bridge.

"Mr. Mills was recovered from the Elizabeth River?" Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Krask asked Holland.

"That's correct," Holland said.

"Mr. Mills is lucky to be alive," Morgan said. "He's also lucky he didn't hurt anyone else."

Morgan also ordered Mills to repay the $39,000 he stole in the scheme.

Tim McGlone, (757) 446-2343, tim.mcglone@pilotonline.com

[houseoftechno]

The thief is likely also in debt for a car loan default, for the Nissan he destroyed. Actually, the bank will write off the loan and recover the loss from you and me.