Local chase reaches 100 mph, ends in cornfield with use of taser

A Mitchell man led police on a circuitous 15-mile chase that varied from 20 to 100 mph early Friday and ended in a cornfield with the use of a taser.

Johnathan Daulton, 36, was arrested on drunken driving, aggravated eluding and open container charges, said Maj. Leon Baier of the Mitchell Police Division.

Around 12:30 a.m. Friday, police allegedly tried to pull over Daulton’s 2002 Chevrolet Cavalier near the intersection of Main Street and the state Highway 37 bypass, but he refused to stop.

Police followed Daulton through Mitchell neighborhoods at speeds of 20 to 30 mph, Baier said.

Pursuit speeds occasionally rose to 100 mph after Daulton turned east on state Highway 38 and headed into Hanson County, where units from the Hanson County Sheriff’s Office and the Highway Patrol joined the chase.

Daulton allegedly drove around road spikes that were deployed to puncture his tires and took side roads to elude police.

Baier said Daulton’s luck ran out when, as he headed toward Interstate 90, he drove into a cornfield and became stuck near a fence about two miles east of the Riverside exit on the north side of I-90.

Police used a taser on Daulton when he allegedly refused to leave his car when ordered. He was arrested at 1:19 a.m., about 45 minutes after the chase started, by Mitchell Sgt. Dave Beintema and is being held in the Davison County Jail.

He was already wanted on an Aug. 3, 2011, arrest warrant issued by Minnehaha County for eluding police, Davison County Jail Administrator Don Radel said.

A check with the South Dakota Unified Judicial System shows Daulton has an extensive South Dakota arrest record.

Friday wasn’t the first time Daulton tried to dodge police. He was sentenced in November 2011 to 18 months in prison for aggravated eluding on charges filed in Yankton County. He was also sentenced to five years (with 3.5 years suspended) in prison in March 2009 on “attempted escape by a prisoner,” charges stemming from a Davison County escape attempt. In 2004, Daulton also served prison time for forgeries committed in Brookings County.

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