A truck driver who reportedly ignored orders to pull over and stop after he allegedly was driving from lane to lane was arrested following a pursuit on the Turner Turnpike.
He now faces a felony and two misdemeanors and reportedly admitted to an officer he swallowed a small amount of methamphetamine while he was attempting to elude.
Gilberto Mejia Ortiz, 43, was formally charged Aug. 31 in Lincoln County District Court with the felony of endangering others while eluding, attempting to elude a police officer.
He also faces the misdemeanor of driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of drugs and possession of a Controlled Dangerous Substance.
Special Judge Emily Mueller set a $50,000 bond and ordered Ortiz to appear on Sep. 2.
Ortiz made his initial appearance on Sep. 2 and Judge Mueller set his prepreliminary hearing for 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 7. She ordered Ortiz to appear with his attorney at that time.
In the felony count, Ortiz is accused on Aug. 18 of driving a semi-tractor trailer on the Turner Turnpike and other public roads in Lincoln County and trying to elude State Trooper Darren Potter.
The second count charges him with driving the semi-tractor trailer on the turnpike and other roads in the county while under the influence of methamphetamine, an intoxicating substance.
Count 3 accuses Ortiz of possessing CDS, a quantity of methamphetamine.
Trooper Potter reported he was sitting on the westbound shoulder at mile marker 188 when his communications center advised there was semi-tractor trailer driving recklessly westbound from the 211 mile marker.
A few minutes later he saw the truck coming from behind him, he states in a probable cause affidavit.
“The semi was swerving from the right lane to the left lane preventing a car from passing,” Potter stated.
The trooper activated his emergency lights to make an enforcement stop, but the driver failed to yield and ignored his attempt to pull him over.
Potter says Ortiz was on the phone with the OHP communications center and did not want to pull over until he reached an area with lighting. The trooper advised the dispatcher for him to pull over at the toll plaza, but he didn’t nor did he stop at the midway marker at mile 178 in Lincoln County.
The trooper said the pursuit began after the truck driver passed that plaza and that he was passing other vehicles endangering other motorists.
Another trooper advised Potter he set up stop sticks at the westbound on ramp at Chandler. Sac and Fox Police Officer Shawn Stewart and Lincoln County Deputy Sheriff CJ Hyde had joined in the pursuit to assist Potter, the trooper reported.
The driver’s truck struck the stop sticks but continued westbound. At approximately mile marker 164 the driver pulled to the shoulder and stopped.
Ortiz was first taken to the Stroud Hospital emergency room and checked out, then released by medical staff and transported by law enforcement to jail.