The following is a press release issued by the Mendocino County District Attorney:
A Mendocino County Superior Court jury completed its deliberations Tuesday afternoon and returned guilty verdicts across the board against the trial defendant.
Defendant Michael David Gray, age 50, of Morgan Hill, was convicted of recklessly evading a peace officer, a felony, evading a peace officer by traveling in the opposite lane of traffic, a felony, and possession of methamphetamine, a misdemeanor.
As background, a Ukiah Police officer saw three motorcycles traveling north on S. State Street in the area of the Ukiah Safeway back in October 2020. Defendant Gray was one of the three and was observed pulling a “wheelie” while traveling past Safeway at a high rate of speed.
Guessing that the motorcycles may eventually turn towards the highway, the officer used Main Street to try and intercept the threesome at the intersection of Main and Perkins. That guess paid off.
As the three motorcycles headed east on Perkins Street towards the highway, the officer turned and followed, activating his pull-over lights. Two of the motorcycles in the group complied by pulling to the curb, but the third (Gray) took off.
Continuing east on Perkins and turning north on N. Orchard, Gray accelerated to 70 mph (in a 25 mph zone) on Orchard, passing a truck in his lane on the right.
Seeing this, the pursuing officer also activated his siren to warn other motorists and to give audible warning to Gray that he needed to stop. That did not work, as Gray also then traveled in the southbound lane while fleeing north.
After almost crashing on N. Orchard but recovering, Gray ran the stop sign at Brush and Orchard, but, apparently not knowing the town, made the mistake of turning east into the Brush Street dead-end.
With the pursuing police closing in, Gray tried to continue his evasion by heading cross-country through the agricultural fields on the north side of Brush Street. He made it 100 yards before crashing his 2015 Honda 1000 RR (“race replica”) in the field, with the motorcycle ending up on top of Gray’s legs, pinning him to the ground.
Following his arrest, it was also discovered that the defendant was in possession of 35 grams net weight of methamphetamine, which likely may explain his unwillingness to stop.
After the jury was excused, the defendant’s case was referred to the Adult Probation Department as required by law for a background study and sentencing recommendation. The two evading crimes carry a mandatory minimum of 180 days in the county jail, even if probation is granted.
The defendant will be sentenced at a hearing now calendared for April 7th at 9 o’clock in the morning in Department B of the Ukiah courthouse.
The law enforcement agency that developed the evidence used to convict the defendant was, again, the Ukiah Police Department, assisted by drug analysis and testimony from the Department of Justice forensic laboratory in Eureka.
The prosecutor who presented the People’s evidence to the jury and argued for the verdicts ultimately returned was Deputy District Attorney Jamie Pearl.
Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Victoria Shanahan presided over the two-day trial. Judge Shanahan will also be the sentencing judge in April.
