MMA Fighter 'Mayhem' Miller Pleads Not Guilty To Vandalizing Lake Forest Tattoo Parlor
SANTA ANA (CBSLA.com) — Mixed martial arts fighter Jason "Mayhem" Miller pleaded not guilty Wednesday to spray-painting graffiti on the wall of a Lake Forest tattoo parlor.
Miller, who has five other court cases pending against him, was arraigned in a Santa Ana courtroom, where bail was set at $1 million, according to Deputy District Attorney Heidi Garrel. He was ordered to return to court Thursday in Newport Beach for a bail hearing.
Miller, 35, was arrested Tuesday in Mission Viejo on a felony warrant for vandalism. He is accused of spray-painting graffiti on the exterior of a tattoo parlor near El Toro Road and Muirlands Boulevard on Jan. 27. He also faces a sentencing enhancement for committing a crime while out on bail.
On Jan. 23, Miller was accused of blowing out a pair of speakers by turning up the volume all the way in a tattoo parlor, Garrel said. The damage to the speakers was estimated to be $650, which resulted in a misdemeanor vandalism charge, Garrel said.
Miller was charged in October with struggling with sheriff's deputies at his Mission Viejo home. In that case he faces two felony counts each of assault with a weapon on a peace officer and resisting arrest.
He also faces misdemeanor counts of battery, false imprisonment and resisting law enforcement officers.
Deputies were called to his home at 1:34 a.m. Oct. 16 on an anonymous report of a disturbance, according to sheriff's Capt. Jeff Hallock. When deputies arrived, they heard a woman's scream in the house, and as they went to the side yard of the residence, Miller confronted them, Hallock said.
Miller allegedly hurled a ceramic tile at the deputies and threatened them with a large fire extinguisher and metal pole as he backed up to his yard, Hallock said. Deputies used a Taser to subdue him.
On March 7 of last year, Miller was accused of kicking a police officer and spitting at another one when they were called to the White House Restaurant in Laguna Beach because Miller had broken a bottle during a "ruckus" in the eatery, Garrel said.
In that case, Miller is charged with a felony count of resisting an executive officer, with a sentence-enhancing allegation of committing a crime while out on bail, and misdemeanor counts of resisting police and battery on a police officer.
Miller also got into a standoff with sheriff's deputies in October 2014, during which he penned a flurry of Twitter posts as it was happening.
Miller was declared a fugitive Sept. 8, 2014, when he failed to show up for a hearing in a domestic violence and stalking case, prompting deputies to go to his Mission Viejo home on Oct. 9 with an arrest warrant.
When deputies showed up at his home around 10:30 a.m. that day, he came to the door but ran back inside and refused to come out. Nearly four hours later, SWAT officers placed a device on his door that blew off the locks, prompting Miller to surrender.
Miller faces two counts of corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant and stalking, all felonies, and a misdemeanor count of violating a protective order in that case, according to court records.
Miller had vandalism charges against him dismissed in November 2012, but found himself in trouble with the law again for the domestic violence case in August 2013.
In August 2012, he was charged with breaking at least one picture frame and damaging a propane tank and other items while spray-painting inside Mission Hills Church, causing at least $400 in damage.
The church's pastor told authorities he found Miller nude except for a cloth wrapped around him and books and CDs scattered around the church, along with broken picture frames and fire extinguisher dust on the first and second floors.
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