Man gives evidence he was rushing to partner when he seriously injured police officer at RBT

A man who dragged a police officer along the road with his car said he went on to make “one bad decision after another” but just wanted to see his partner one more time.

A man who fled an RBT and dragged a police officer along the road with his car told the court he “couldn’t stop” because he was urgently trying to get to his partner.

Nathan Heath Miller, 48, who was driving with his son inside the car while on a suspended licence, said he just went on to make “one bad decision after another”.

Giving evidence on Friday, Miller told the District Court he was picking up his son from his ex-partner’s house on April 25, 2023, when he was alerted by his partner she was experiencing heavy bleeding from a medical procedure.

Nathan Miller pleaded guilty to injuring a police officer after he left the scene of an RBT. Picture: Supplied

He told the court he “couldn’t stop” because he was urgently trying to get to his partner.

Police were performing random breath testing duties at Elaine Ave at Seaton when they stopped Miller’s car before requesting a breath sample.
As Miller began moving his car forward, a police officer put his hand inside the car trying to remove the keys to stop him driving off.

The court heard Miller then wound up the window, trapping the officer’s arm, and accelerated rapidly. The police officer was flung from the vehicle into a tree and two wheelie bins on the nature strip.

He suffered a broken fibia, torn ligaments in his ankle and a dislocated shoulder.

Miller said he told police “I can’t stop, I can’t stop” as he drove through the RBT because he was concerned about his partner and being arrested in front of his son who has autism.

Miller said he then dropped his son back to his ex-partner’s house and took a taxi to his late father’s house as he thought police would be looking for him.

“I was just in a panicked state, it was just one bad decision followed by another by another,” he said.

“All hell had broken loose.”

Miller, of Woodville West, pleaded guilty to causing harm by dangerous driving, driving without due care, leave accident scene after causing serious harm and several other driving offences.

Judge Anthony Allen previously told the court Miller’s intercepted phone calls to his partner told a different story and he didn’t accept his claims.

“Your client’s captured saying ‘all right, oi … f***en when I left there was a f**ken breath-o around the corner, I pulled into the side street, there’s cops there,” he said.

“They’ve tried to lift me out of (the car), I’ve taken off with him hanging outside the car.”
However, on Friday, Miller told the court he didn’t realise he caused any harm to the officer and just wanted to see his partner one more time before handing himself in.

The court heard Miller told his partner over the phone he was “going to shave his head,” which he told the court it was so it would be harder for police to track him down.

“Because I knew I was in a lot of trouble,” he said.

Miller will next appear in court in November where he will be cross examined by a prosecutor on his evidence.

Originally published as Man gives evidence he was rushing to partner when he seriously injured police officer at RBT