CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A man who led police on a three-county pursuit will stay in jail on $60,000 bail after a Kanawha County circuit judge denied a requst to reduce it in a Thursday hearing.
Dakota Taylor, 20. faces various charges in Kanawha, Putnam and Cabell counties after a March 3 dispute and chase that began at CAMC Women and Children’s Hospital in Charleston.
Taylor is charged with strangling his girlfriend inside the hospital and then fleeing from police when they tried to stop him in the parking lot.
Taylor’s attorney, Chris Maidona, asked Kanawha County Circuit Judge Tara Salango to reduce the bail to $10,000 with 10% cash along with home confinement. Maidona said Taylor had been accepted into a treatment program.
“He really has no risk of re-offense I think given his limited criminal history,” Maidona said.
Kanawha County Assistant Prosecutor Debra Rusnak spoke against the bond reduction. She said Taylor continued his violence after leaving the hospital.
“He leads the police in a pursuit exceeding speeds of 100 miles-per-hour, not only endangering other members of the public but a child who was in the vehicle with him,” Rusnak said.
Taylor’s one-year-old was in the car.
Salango denied the bond reduction. She said the criminal complaint was “very disturbing.”
“He does have minimal criminal history but it’s domestic related. He’s been charged with violating protective orders in the past,” Salango said. “it’s really surprising that no one was seriously injured or killed.”
Taylor wasn’t happy with the judge’s decision. He could be seen on the streaming video hitting his first into the top of a desk in the Western Regional Jail hearing room.
Maidona said one of the charges against Taylor, fleeing causing death, is the incorrect charge because no one died. Salango agreed and questioned Rusnak about the state’s plans with the charge. Rusnak said the charge would be dropped and the correct charge of fleeing with reckless indifference would be filed in the next day.
The case has already been forwarded to a grand jury.
The pursuit was mostly on U.S. Route 60 and ended in the Cabell County community of Culloden.