Elyria man arrested on his 15th DUI charge

ELYRIA — Police officers investigating a traffic crash on Lake Avenue on Thursday night charged an Elyria man with his 15th DUI. Duran Mims, 39, of Demas Avenue, was cited with felony DUI, as well as DUI refusal with prior DUI in the last 20 years, driving under DUI suspension and failure to control, all misdemeanors. Mims was being treated at a hospital following the crash and was not booked into Lorain County Jail. His initial court date is set today in Elyria Municipal Court. Municipal Court records show attorney Jason Harless filed a written "not guilty" plea on behalf of Mims with the court. A message seeking further comment was left for Harless. Officers responding to a report of a vehicle that struck a building in the 600 block of Lake Avenue shortly after 7:30 p.m. found a black Ford Escape with Kentucky plates crashed into a tree stump. Elyria firefighter and LifeCare personnel were on scene treating the injured occupants, including Mims and 47-year-old Devan Wilkerson, of Lake Avenue. Wilkerson's head had hit the front windshield, and he had a small cut on the top of his head with glass in it, according to a police report. He was transported to University Hospitals Elyria Medical Center for treatment, police said. Mims, who appeared intoxicated, smelled of alcohol and was slurring his words, also had blood on his face and had trouble answering officers' questions. He was taken to UH Elyria after showing signs of "hostility" toward LifeCare staff and police officers while secured on a gurney, according to the police report. Five to 10 cans of Twisted Tea alcoholic beverage were found scattered in the vehicle. A check of Mims' criminal record revealed 14 prior DUIs from 1999 through 2017, including two felony DUI convictions in Lorain County Common Pleas Court, both in 2016. Mims refused to provide a urine sample or sign forms notifying him of his driver's license suspension while at the hospital, according to Elyria police. Mims' arrest record includes multiple charges of trafficking in and possession of drugs, fleeing and eluding police, resisting arrest and obstruction and multiple probation violations, according to Lorain County Jail records. Some of his prior drunken driving convictions were in April 2001, May 2005, November 2005, August 2008, September 2009 (two), May 2013 and October 2017 (two), according to Ohio Department of Public Safety's online habitual drunken driving offenders registry. Mims is one of 320 people from Lorain County on that list, all with five or more DUI convictions during the past 20 years and at least one since Sept. 30, 2008. The registry does not include dead people, those with convictions more than 20 years old and does not count out-of-state convictions, but does include juvenile convictions, according to the ODPS. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him at @daveobrienCT on Twitter.