photo by: Kansas Department of Corrections

Steven Carl Drake II

A Lawrence man was ordered to stand trial after allegedly leading police on a high-speed car chase through snow-packed streets in downtown Lawrence in February.

Steven Carl Drake II, 47, has been charged with felony flee and elude, possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and three counts of criminal damage. He was bound over for trial Thursday by Judge Sally Pokorny after a preliminary hearing at which a police dash-cam video of the chase was played.

As previously reported by the Journal-World, the chase occurred around 5:45 a.m. on Feb. 3 when a deputy tried to stop a vehicle for driving erratically in a residential area near Ninth and Kentucky streets, but the vehicle fled the scene. The National Weather Service in Topeka had reported 4 inches of snow on Feb. 2.

Sheriff’s Deputy Lt. Mark Mehrer testified at the hearing and narrated the dash-cam video. In the video, Mehrer said the fleeing vehicle reached speeds of 80 mph on the snowy streets of North Lawrence and 65 mph in residential areas around downtown Lawrence. The fleeing vehicle nearly hit a white SUV head on as it was traveling the wrong way on Kentucky Street, Mehrer said.

The chase ended in the 2100 block of Kentucky Street when the vehicle tried to turn but slid into a car parked on the street. The fleeing driver attempted to continue driving but then hit a second parked car in a driveway, which forced him across the street where he hit a fence, another parked car and a shed, Mehrer said. Police were then able to block the driver in and to place him under arrest. In the vehicle they reportedly found two bags of methamphetamine; one was in a chewing tobacco can on the driver’s seat next to Drake’s cellphone, and the other was in the backseat, Mehrer said. There was another man in the car who was questioned about the chase but he was not arrested, Mehrer said.

Drake’s defense attorney, Michael Clarke, said that the drugs could have belonged to the other person who was in the car, but that person couldn’t be questioned as a witness because he was killed a few days later in an incident in Topeka.

Listed as a witness in Drake’s charging documents from the court is Jason D. Ickler, 38. Ickler was shot and killed by a Shawnee County sheriff’s deputy on Feb. 6 at the Topeka Quality Inn, 1240 S.W. Wanamaker Road, while he was allegedly trying to hit the deputy with a car.

The property owners testified during Drake’s preliminary hearing and described the estimated damages to their cars and property. One owner said his Oldsmobile Cutlass was valued around $1,000 but he had not had the damage assessed since he has only liability insurance on the car. Another owner said the insurance claim for his Subaru Outback was for $12,000 to repair the damages. The third owner said his insurance claim for a Jeep Patriot was around $7,500, and his homeowner’s insurance claim for the fence and shed totaled $3,500.

Drake was booked into the Douglas County Jail later that morning and was released on a $15,000 bond the next day, according to the booking log. Drake’s next court appearance is on June 1.

Steven C. Drake II should not be confused with Steven A. Drake III who was convicted in February of voluntary manslaughter for shooting Bryce Holladay, 26, on Sept. 19, 2017.