By Margie Wuebker
mwuebker@dailystandard.com A Celina man, who allegedly kidnapped a local woman, crashed her burning car during a high-speed pursuit and fled from authorities not once but three times remains incarcerated at the Mercer County Jail on a $1 million bond.
Mitchell D. Mullins, 30, 905 Cheshire Circle, made an initial appearance Wednesday afternoon in Mercer County Common Pleas Court on a seven-count indictment handed down by a Mercer County grand jury while he was still on the run.
The charges include three counts of kidnapping, all first-degree felonies, as well as two counts each of abduction and failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer, all third-degree felonies.
The alleged offenses occurred while Mullins was out on bond in an unrelated case involving assault of a police officer and escape, fourth- and fifth-degree felonies.
Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Matt Fox requested the high bond in light of Mullins' history of flight and failure to comply with bond stipulations. The defendant sat quietly as the request was made looking down at the handcuffs securely locked around his wrists. Judge Jeffrey Ingraham set 1:30 p.m. Nov. 9 as the time and date for an arraignment in the latest case and a pretrial hearing in the other.
If convicted of the charges in both cases, Mullins faces a total of up to 521Ú2 years in prison and $107,500 in fines.
Celina Police arrested Mullins Tuesday morning after an officer spotted him in a car driven by his brother. The fugitive reportedly explained he was en route to turn himself in to authorities.
Mullins fled the scene of an Oct. 21 traffic stop. A passenger in a car driven by a friend, he led authorities on a two-block chase before disappearing in a Johnson Avenue neighborhood.
He was being sought in connection with an alleged kidnapping and abduction that occurred Oct. 15. A witness called police on a cell phone to report a man and woman fighting in a parked car.
The woman, believed to be a former girlfriend, drove from the scene with the witness relaying the location and direction of travel. At one point Mullins reportedly climbed behind the wheel and drove while seated on her lap.
Authorities stopped the car during the pursuit but Mullins sped away. Devices know as "stop sticks" were successfully deployed, flattening all four tires. He continued to flee until sparks from the rims ignited the engine compartment and the car subsequently landed in the ditch.
Mullins then ran from the scene at which point the unidentified woman got out of the burning car. |
