Gardner man faces additional charges in case related to car chase from Eudora to Lawrence

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Christopher Michael Dale appears at a hearing on July 18, 2022.

A man who allegedly led police on a car chase from Eudora through Lawrence last fall is facing more than 10 new charges after members of the public began relaying details of the chase to local law enforcement.

Christopher Michael Dale, 34, of Gardner is charged with eleven counts of aggravated assault, two counts of aggravated endangering a child, two counts of possession of a firearm by a felon, one count of criminal damage, which was to a cornfield, and one count of felony flee and elude, according to charging documents.

Dale initially faced just one count of flee and elude, two counts of aggravated assault on law enforcement, two counts of possession of a firearm by a felon and one count of criminal damage, but after the chase, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office issued a news release asking anyone who witnessed the chase to call the office to make a report.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Seth Brackman said that after witnesses called in to report their experience with the chase, Dale was charged with the additional nine counts of aggravated assault and two counts of endangering a child for nearly hitting other drivers on the roadway during the chase.

Dale was in Douglas County District Court on Monday for a preliminary hearing. Dale is defending himself in the case.

The chase occurred the morning of Sept. 24, 2021, when Dale is alleged to have failed to properly stop at a stop sign at the intersection of Tenth and Main streets in Eudora, right next to the Eudora Police Department at 930 Main St.

As previously reported by the Journal-World, the chase traveled down North 1400 Road between Eudora and Lawrence, and eventually included the suspect vehicle driving at high speed and in the wrong lane of traffic on Kansas Highway 10, Haskell Avenue, 23rd Street and 31st Street.

Near the K-10 and Iowa Street intersection, deputies used a tactical vehicle intervention maneuver to spin the vehicle into the ditch, but the vehicle returned to the highway before deputies pinned it in a parking lot in the 3400 block of Iowa Street.

Guns were reportedly thrown from the vehicle while deputies pursued it. At least one of the guns recovered has been determined to be stolen. Charging documents list the guns as a 9mm Smith and Wesson and a .380 Smith and Wesson.

Among the charges Dale is facing are two aggravated assault charges that stem from allegations that he nearly ran over two Douglas County sheriff’s deputies who were trying to set up spike strips to stop the fleeing vehicle.

Several law enforcement witnesses and one civilian witness testified Monday, including Officer Cody Galley with the Eudora Police Department. He said that he was in the department’s parking lot that morning talking with another officer when he observed a silver Nissan Altima run a stop sign.

Galley said he immediately got into his patrol vehicle and attempted to stop the car but the driver fled the scene. Galley said he pursued the car outside of the city limits and broke off the pursuit since it was a misdemeanor infraction at that time. Shortly after, Douglas County sheriff’s deputies responded to Galley’s radio calls about the vehicle and resumed the chase.

The deputy that took up the pursuit was Karrington Johnson. He testified that he didn’t immediately begin pursuing Dale with his lights and sirens but waited to see if the car would continue to drive recklessly outside of Eudora.

Johnson said the reason he turned his lights on and continued the pursuit was that “the suspect was traveling at a high rate of speed and passed in a no passing zone.”

Johnson’s testimony was cut short after Dale started questioning Johnson about pursuit policies and accused the deputy of violating the law by pursuing a suspect without his light and sirens on.

Judge Gunnar Sundby stopped the tense exchange between the deputy and Dale and said, “You are now giving closing statements, Mr. Dale,” and he dismissed Johnson from the stand. Dale objected and said he wasn’t finished with Johnson yet, but Sundby did not allow Dale to continue questioning the deputy.

Sundby allowed Dale to question the remaining witnesses, but Brackman repeatedly objected to Dale’s questions and tactics. Dale said that he has represented himself multiple times in Wyandotte, Leavenworth and Johnson Counties.

In Johnson County, Dale has felony convictions for arson, aggravated robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, and identity theft, according to Kansas Department of Corrections records.

On Monday, Dale attempted to dismiss his standby attorney, Michael Clarke, after a number of civilian and law enforcement witnesses did not respond to subpoenas issued in the case. Sundby declined Dale’s request to dismiss Clarke and said the witnesses’ failure to respond was not the fault of the attorney.

The hearing was scheduled to be the third part of the preliminary hearing after Dale requested to cross-examine witnesses who testified at the first two hearings in March and May but after many of the witnesses did not appear on Monday, Sundby said that there would have to be another attempt in the future to complete the hearing.