By Conrad Dudderar
Staff Writer
A Yukon man who allegedly rammed his car into a police vehicle during a high-speed pursuit could spend up to 17 years in state prison if convicted.
Quanah Stephen Shaw, 46, was formally charged July 28 in Canadian County District Court with endangering others while attempting to elude a police officer, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and pattern of criminal offenses.
The felony charges stem from a chase that started shortly after midnight July 21 in the 1100 block of E Main and ended near Interstate 40 and MacArthur in Oklahoma City.
Yukon Police Lt. Zach Bradford tried to pull over Shaw, who allegedly was driving a 2009 Hyundai sedan with a license plate that belonged on another vehicle.
Assistant District Attorney John Salmon alleges Shaw willfully eluded the officer “by accelerating away” from Bradford’s marked police unit and “driving in excess of 90 miles per hour while weaving in and out of traffic and endangering numerous other persons” who were traveling on the streets.
Shaw allegedly failed to yield or stop for red lights as the chase proceeded through Yukon city streets and then eastbound onto I-40.
While driving a clearly identified police car, Lt. Bradford had given Shaw a visual and audible signal directing him to bring his vehicle to a stop.
During the chase, prosecutors allege Shaw “without justifiable or excusable cause, did assault and batter” Bradford “by intentionally colliding his Hyundai into the officer’s vehicle with the intent” to cause bodily harm.
The defendant engaged in a pattern or criminal offenses “by endangering others while attempting to elude a police officer in Canadian County and then immediately fleeing to Oklahoma County as part of the same plan, scheme or adventure and committing an assault and battery with a dangerous weapon,” according to the charging document.
NOW IN THE COUNTY JAIL
The early-morning chase ended when the pursuing officer stopped Shaw’s car using a tactical vehicle intervention (TVI) maneuver, Yukon Police Maj. Matt Fairchild said.
Oklahoma City Police and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol helped Yukon Police during the high-speed pursuit.
Shaw was arrested at the scene without incident and the vehicle was impounded.
He was booked into the Canadian County Jail for endangering others while attempting to elude a police officer, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, driving with a suspended/revoked license, and operating a vehicle with an altered license plate.
A preliminary hearing conference is set 9 a.m. Aug. 10 before Canadian County Special Judge Khristan K. Strubhar.
The endangering others while attempting to elude a police officer charge is punishable by a $1,000-$5,000 fine and/or one to five years in prison.
The assault and battery with a dangerous weapon charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison or one year in the county jail.
The pattern of criminal offenses charge is punishable by a fine of up to $25,000 and/or not more than two years in prison or up to one year in the county jail.
Shaw has a lengthy record of traffic offenses between 1999 and 2021 in Canadian and Pawnee counties for speeding, failure to stop at stop sign, driving without insurance, and not wearing a seatbelt. He also has a 2010 Oklahoma County conviction for fishing without a license.
