N. Minnesota Man Accused Of Assault, Attempted Murder Makes First Court Appearance
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A man accused of assaulting two people and firing shots at responding officers made his first appearance in an Itasca County courtroom Thursday.
Roy Miller, 44, is charged with five counts of attempted second-degree murder, five counts of first-degree assault on a peace officer with deadly force and two counts of domestic assault.
The criminal complaint alleges Miller physically assaulted a male victim and his mother at Miller's residence in Itasca County Feb. 10. The victims say Miller became angry and violent with them after they laughed when the family dog urinated on him.
The male victim says when his mother threatened to call police, Miller took her cellphone and broke it. Miller then punched both of the victims in the face with a closed fist and chased them around the residence while hurling objects at them.
The victims say they lost each other while attempting to leave the house, and while the woman searched for her son, Miller retrieved a firearm and came back to tell her, "You need to get out of here." When she got in her vehicle to leave, Miller followed her outside and headbutted the rear window, shattering it.
After she began to drive away, the woman found her son, wearing only his underwear, further down the road and picked him up. The two drove to the woman's ex-husband's home in Aitkin County where they were able to make contact with police.
When they arrived to the home in Aitkin County, police say they observed both of the victims "covered in blood." They were treated at Grand Itasca Hospital for injuries, including bruising and swelling on their faces.
Deputies subsequently went to Miller's house to question him, where they encountered Miller attempting to leave the residence in a truck.
Deputies issued commands for Miller to stop his vehicle, but Miller instead fired shots at the officers through his open truck window. Officers returned fire and Miller then ran into a ditch, where he finally surrendered.
The court set Miller's bail at $1 million and ordered he undergo a mental health evaluation. His next court appearance will be determined when those evaluations are complete.