photo by: Courtesy of Lawrence Police Department

Derrick James Davidson

A Baldwin City man was ordered to stand trial on Tuesday in Douglas County District Court on multiple felony charges related to thefts, drugs and fleeing police; however, a judge declined to find probable cause on most of the charges the man faced.

Derrick James Davidson, 31, originally faced 13 felony charges, including two felony counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm, felony aggravated burglary, drug possession and multiple thefts.

Judge Amy Hanley on Tuesday found probable cause to order Davidson to trial on five charges: felony interference for allegedly running from police on Jan. 11, two felony counts of vehicular burglary, one felony count of theft and one felony count of drug possession.

Davidson also faces an additional four counts of misdemeanor theft and one count of misdemeanor possession of paraphernalia, according to charging documents.

The charges relate to a series of incidents between Jan. 6 and Jan. 11. Davidson was accused of stealing a firearm and a Ford Focus in Topeka, driving the car to Lawrence, burglarizing multiple vehicles, then abandoning the Focus on Jan. 11 and fleeing from Lawrence police on foot before he allegedly stole a box truck that afternoon from the 800 block of Broadview Drive. The box truck was later spotted by police in Topeka, and when police tried to detain Davidson, he allegedly escaped on foot, as the Journal-World reported

Lawrence police had put out a request for the public’s help and a warning not to approach Davidson because they suspected that he was armed. Davidson was eventually apprehended by Lawrence police on Feb. 2, but not before he allegedly led them on another foot chase in the 200 block of McDonald Drive and was found hours later in the 700 block of Lake Street.

photo by: Lawrence Police Department

Derrick Davidson’s arrest as seen from a police drone on Feb. 2, 2023, in the 700 Block of Lake Street.

At the preliminary hearing Tuesday, Hanley ordered Davidson to stand trial on just five felony counts after hearing from 12 witnesses, including law enforcement officers. Hanley noted that the theft of the Ford Focus and a firearm had occurred in Topeka. She said if the thefts occurred outside of Douglas County, then the charges here should be for possession of stolen property, not theft.

When Lawrence police first attempted to arrest Davidson on Jan. 11, he abandoned the Ford Focus, which was occupied by two other individuals, Lawrence Police Sgt. Bronson Star testified on Tuesday. In that vehicle officers found most of the items that Davidson is alleged to have stolen, including a .45 caliber pistol loaded with hollow-point bullets.

Davidson’s defense attorney, Michael Clarke, argued that police did not take any DNA or fingerprint evidence from the car and that when police made contact with Davidson, the car was parked at the Baymont Inn, 740 Iowa St., and there was no way to know if he was the driver or just one of three people in the car.

Clarke said that the gun and the other stolen items could very well have been taken by the man who was in the passenger seat of the car, Randle Raymond Carr, 42, of Lawrence, who was arrested on outstanding warrants after Davidson fled the scene. Clarke added that Carr has not been charged for any of the stolen items found in the car.

photo by: Kansas Department of Corrections

Randle Raymond Carr

Carr is currently facing two felony criminal threat charges and two misdemeanor battery charges in connection with two incidents in October 2022, according to Douglas County Court records. He is currently in the Douglas County Jail on a $5,000 bond.

Hanley agreed that it wasn’t possible to determine who took some of the items found in the car, including a Subaru exhaust pipe that was connected to Davidson’s aggravated burglary charge.

The owner of the exhaust pipe testified that he was home for lunch and heard some noise in his garage but thought it was his dogs, only to later realize that the exhaust pipe and a circular saw were missing.

Hanley said that the man hearing noise in his garage was not sufficient evidence to say that Davidson was in the man’s residence.

Hanley also did not find probable cause on charges alleging that Davidson stole a box truck and another gun. The state alleged that after Davidson fled from police on Jan. 11 he took a box truck from a few blocks away and that there was a pistol in it. The workers responsible for the box truck testified that the truck was recovered later that night in Topeka but that the gun and their other personal items have not been recovered.

Hanley said that Davidson’s having fled on foot in the area was not sufficient evidence that he took the truck, and since the gun was never recovered, there was no evidence that Davidson was in possession of it.

Hanley ordered Davidson to appear for an arraignment on March 7. He is currently in custody at the Douglas County jail on a $50,000 cash or surety bond. Davidson was on parole at the time of the incident for a felony theft conviction in Douglas County. He also has felony convictions in Franklin County for burglary, theft and drug possession.