A Shreveport man who fled from law enforcement agents last July was found guilty of aggravated flight in a short trial Thursday, January 25, 2018, in Caddo District Court.
It took the six-woman, six-man jury only 30 minutes to unanimously find that Danny Leon Harris, 29, recklessly fled officers during a traffic stop in July 2017, first in his vehicle and then on foot through central Shreveport neighborhoods.
Harris will be sentenced under the multiple habitual offender law on March 12, 2018. He has two prior felony convictions for possession with intent to distribute scheduled narcotics and simple possession of scheduled narcotics. Aggravated flight from a police officer is a crime of violence under Louisiana Revised Statute 14:2 and as such Harris faces at least 2-½ years at hard labor to a maximum of 10 years at hard labor.
On July 19, 2017, agents with the Shreveport-Caddo Street Level Interdiction Unit conducted a citywide operation to target street-level narcotics distributors dealing from vehicles or on foot. When agents attempted to stop a Hyundai driven by Harris, he fled. Officers pursued, and a chase through a residential neighborhood ensued, with the Hyundai ignoring stop signs or traffic controls at more than a dozen intersections, sometimes travelling at more than twice the posted speed, even in construction zones. Harris finally stopped the vehicle but fled on foot. He was captured after a brief struggle through the help of a police dog.
The trial was before District Judge John D. Mosely Jr. Prosecutors were Assistant District Attorneys Pam Moser and Sam Crichton. Harris was defended by Michael Enright.