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Jury convicts Santa Maria woman of striking Arroyo Grande officer with car

February 5, 2024

                                                                             Laura Lee Millar

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

A San Luis Obispo County jury has convicted a Santa Maria woman of striking an Arroyo Grande police officer with her car, as well as driving under the influence of alcohol causing serious injury.

Shortly before 6 p.m. on Feb. 23, 2023, a 911 caller reported a man and a woman fighting in a retail parking lot on Grand Avenue in Arroyo Grande. Officers tried to detain the suspects, but the woman, later identified as Laura Lee Millar, attempted to flee in her vehicle.

One officer walked in front of Millar’s vehicle as she exited the parking lot onto Grand Avenue and shined a flashlight through her front windshield, commanding her to stop. Millar did not stop and struck the officer, causing significant injury. She then fled the scene. 

About 30 minutes later, a CHP officer spotted Millar driving southbound on Highway 101 in Buellton at speeds of up to 100 mph. 

Officers tracked down Millar and arrested her for felony assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer and booked her in San Luis Obispo County Jail. Responders transported the injured officer to a local hospital where he received treatment for non-life threatening injuries. 

Prosecutors charged Millar, now 44, with felony hit-and-run causing injury, felony driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury, felony driving with a blood alcohol level exceeding .08% causing injury, and assault on a peace officer. 

The jury convicted Millar of each count, with the exception of assault on a peace officer, on which they acquitted her. Jurors, though, also found true an allegation that Millar personally inflicted great bodily injury on the Arroyo Grand officer. 

Millar faces a maximum sentence of six years and eight months in prison. Her sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 29 in the courtroom of Judge Matthew Guerrero. 

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Considering all the damage the woman caused, this sentence seems quite light. She used her car, a deadly weapon, to run down a human being. That alone should have gotten her considerably more time. She evaded arrest and proceeded to recklessly endanger the public by driving at speeds guaranteed to cause fatalities if she managed to drunkenly cause a wreck. Seriously, why be lenient in a case like this? Will she be sufficiently rehabilitated within the time she is incarcerated to no longer be a danger to the public? That is questionable, IMHO.


7

Not sure 80 months in prison is “quite light.”


-4

Francesca? Coming around to the Conservative thought process? :)


0

She’s incredibly stupid and stubborn for taking this to a jury…her counsel probably told her to plea out, too


14