URBANA — A Champaign teen whose flight from police and subsequent arrest sparked allegations of police brutality today took legal responsibility for his actions.
Calvin Miller, 18, who listed an address in the 1000 block of South Duncan Road, pleaded guilty to one count of fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer and one count of resisting a peace officer, both misdemeanors, for a sentence of 18 months of probation.
The charges stemmed from an Oct. 24 incident that started about 1:30 a.m. in which Miller failed to stop for Champaign police officer Matthew Rush after running over a curb as he left the University Village apartment complex in the 2000 block of Moreland Boulevard at a high rate of speed.
Miller disobeyed traffic signals and failed to stop for a squad car with its lights and siren on as he sped south from the complex and into a neighborhood on the west side of Neil Street, north of Bradley Avenue. He ultimately jumped from a still-running van after it crashed into the front porch of a house in the 200 block of Arcadia Drive.
After a brief foot chase, police caught up with Miller in a yard on Brookwood Drive, where two officers wrestled with him and one used pepper spray on him to ultimately get him into custody.
Under the terms of the plea agreement worked out by Assistant State's Attorney Sam Rosenberg and Assistant Public Defender Lindsey Yanchus, Miller also will perform 100 hours of public service, make $1,700 in restitution to the owner of the home to fix the porch, write the homeowner a letter of apology and attend and complete a traffic safety school program.
"This is an appropriate resolution of this case given the serious nature of the offense and Miller's lack of prior criminal history," said Champaign County State's Attorney Julia Rietz. "It is particularly important to me that the owner of the property is fully compensated for the damage to her property."
Another count of criminal damage to property was dismissed as part of the plea bargain.
Miller is the son of Martel Miller of Champaign, a long-time vocal critic of the Champaign Police Department.
After his son's arrest the elder Miller claimed that his son fled from police because he was scared of them and that officers rammed into the rear of his son's vehicle and beat him. The allegation that the police rammed his van was disproven by a squad car video of the pursuit. The city made the video public in the wake of a packed city council meeting where Miller supporters alleged excessive use of force against the teen.
The officers' interaction with the younger Miller could be heard but not seen on the videotape.
After the plea this morning, the younger Miller declined to comment on the advice of his father, who was in court with him.
The elder Miller maintained that his son fled because he feared the police
"A lot of kids fear the police," Martel Miller said, "and what they do in uniform. They're not held accountable," he said of Champaign police.
His dad said he wasnt resisting... why did he plead guilty then?
I commend the young man for accepting responsibility for this behavior. His father on the other hand needs to get a little perspestive.
My son is 16 and does not fear the police - and understands the necessity to comply with the police even when you disagree with their reasons. There is a time and a place to remedy the problem - that time is not when the police are doing their job.
It sounds like your son is -- how should I put it? -- very special.
No, I would say her son is the product of responsible parenting or parenting skills. Things that many in this communty lack. However they do make up for it in night clubing skills.
I do wonder if all the folks from Urbana "who stood with Calvin Miller" now are regretting their criticism of the police....
naw.
Read the DI, telling the truth and respecting our laws is normal and good, not "special."
Clearly you are on Santa's naughty list, and bitter about it. Enjoy the coal!
not guilty plea - huh?!? is all I can say
He got off easy. Calvin got a good deal from the prosecutor.
R U all Serious...Did you not see how badly beaten he was, and you say he deserved this, just because he ran? Clearly he didn't have any drugs on him, he wasn't intoxicated, nor did he have any felonies, so he Obviously ran because he was scared. Shame on you who think this is o.k. Wrong is WRONG...Police or NOT!
Uh-
Just a thought...
Do not resist
you will not get hurt
He pled guilty to resisting. What happened after that is his fault, no one elses.
Well, then, let's have a formal policy.
Let's have the Campaign Police come up with a written policy that says "this much resistance is worth this much extrajudicial after-the-fact beating."
Let's get this policy in front of the City Council to approve: "Yes, we as a city agree that the police, as a matter of policy, should beat up anyone who resists. Resisting for two minutes gets you a black eye. Resist for ten minutes and we'll break a bone or two. A car chase gets you busted knee. And so on."
That's pretty much what you're recommending here, except you want the system to be informal and secret, rather than formalized and out in the open.
At the time he bailed out of a moving vehicle, it was not known whether he had drugs on him, there was reason however to suspect that he may be intoxicated (running over curbs, ignoring traffic signals), and it could not have been known whether he had any felony convictions.
Obviously he ran because he was scared. What he was scared of is not so obvious. The reasonable conclusion from his behavior that night was that he did not want to encounter the police. People avoid the police for many reasons, very few, if any, are reasonable or even legal.
Driving that van like he did and then bailing out and letting the van run on without a driver is what he did. That van could have hurt or killed somebody. Calvin deserved a felony but got off by playing the race card and the victim card.
There is no doubt that Mr. Miller pled guilty in order to cop a plea to get off with a light sentence. I don’t blame him at all – it’s what any sane person would do. The question is whether or not he’s really accepting responsibility for his actions, or if it isn’t just a smart move to get off lightly. I have my own opinion on this, and you will all have to make up your own.
One needs only look back to an article which was published in the October edition of “the Public I”, the not-so-unbiased publication of the IMC. In this oddly anonymous article (unlike every other story in the paper, this one does not have the authors name associated with it), Calvin gives his story of the events that transpired. Keep in mind that this story was published before the CUPD released the video tape of the incident, subsequently making it clear for all to see exactly what happened.
“According to Calvin, he had dropped of a friend at around 1 a.m. on Monday morning, October 24th, 2011, and was driving home when a Champaign police car pulled up behind him on Marketview Drive. Calvin says he obeyed all the traffic laws and drove the speed limit. The officers turned on his lights. Close to his mother’s house, Calvin kept driving with the hope he could make it there. After a couple blocks, he turned into a residential driveway on Arcadia. Calvin says the police officer rammed him with his squad car, causing the car to lurch forward into the porch steps. Calvin got out of the car and started to run towards his house.”
As everyone now knows, the video told quite a different story. Nearly every point that he stated was proven to be untruthful, and the rightly expected community backlash followed. As a community we can only hope that Mr. Miller, in fact, is taking the high road and accepting responsibility for his actions. Only time will tell.
He didn't just run and get beat up by the cops. He wouldn't pull over for the police. He jumped out of his moving car (which rammed into someones front porch), THEN he ran.
And he also was speeding, disobeying traffic signals...
You resist arrest and fight with the police officers trying to cuff you, there's a strong possibility you might get injured in the process.
Just the irresponsibility alone of blowing traffic lights and fleeing for the better part of a mile is inexcusable and he should have gotten a 1-years suspension of his driving privileges and 6 points on his license. His old man is 80% of the reason this kid is possibly doomed never to get along with society.
We have to just hate plea-bargains for this reason. All the wrong messages have been sent. I really pity you poor folks left in C-U as it deteriorates and hope things get better for you. Until the crime is reduced and the root cause is addressed, I have little to hope for you poor people.
Blaming the police and "200 years of oppression" is wearing mighty thin after the last two full generations of affirmative action and every possible opportunity to excel that society can provide.
Somewhere, sometimes - there's just plain "accepting responsibilities for your actions" and the ensuing consequences.
Well --- you can say that my son is special. Thank you.
He is learning how to become a law abiding citizen of the United States of America. He is learning that you work for what you want and if you can't afford it you don't get it.
He is learning that you respect authority at all levels and if you disagree then you resolve it in a legal manner.
He is learning to respect his elders and others he encounters.
He is also learning that life isn't fair, but guess what -- deal with it cause it isn't going to change.
If this makes him SPECIAL, then thank you. I am very proud of the choices he makes on a daily basis.
Jelam2 you are so right, Wrong is Wrong. Thank goodness calvin wasn't wrong when he fled from police and could of killed you, me, or my children with his car. Thank goodness calvin wasn't wrong when he drove that car into a house that could if killed you, me, or my children. But thank goodness those cops were wrong for risking their lives chasing somebody that had no regard for anyone else's safety. And thank goodness those cops were wrong chasing a fleeing felon not knowing what weapons if any calvin had. Just think what this society would really be like if these cops were wrong.
Don't you just love it when the preacher's son is out there committing the crime we hire police to protect us from, while the preacher is railing against those same police for doing their jobs? The problem with all this post-mortem is that it is done from the point-of-view that rationalizing with the irrational is productive. It's not. The older Miller is happily cultivating the younger Miller to become the next version of Sharpton or Jackson, which is to take everything that is bad about him and project it onto others as racist behavior. That the video showed the younger Miller to be lying with his every breath is irrelevant and ignored. But that is why he was counseled (ala Tawana Brawley) to not speak again. Montel, try living in a world without police. I have ridden with an officer during third shift more than once. Get out from the comfort of your pulpit and try it. Actually, start by being a father.