Arraignment postponed in fugitive case

Deepa Bharath

NEWPORT BEACH -- An arraignment hearing was continued Wednesday in the

case of Jeffrey Wayne Minor, a 31-year-old Irvine man who fled to Italy

and eluded police for two years after being arrested on suspicion of

drunk driving and assaulting a Newport Beach police officer.

Minor was scheduled to be arraigned at Harbor Justice Center Wednesday

afternoon, but the hearing was moved to Nov. 13.

The Orange County District Attorney has filed separate felony charges

against Minor, said Senior Assistant Dist. Atty. Bruce Patterson.

The first charge alleges Minor drove under the influence and fled the

country with a pending conviction in a 1993 vehicular manslaughter in

Riverside county. The second alleges assault on a police officer,

hit-and-run and failure to appear in court.

According to officials, Minor fled the United States using his

brother’s passport in February 1999 after failing to appear at Harbor

Justice Center. He was arrested Dec. 21, 1998, after he allegedly dragged

a police officer 77 feet with his red Porsche through a crowded Fashion

Island parking lot.

Authorities arrested him in Italy in March 1999, but he fought

extradition.

Minor’s father, Wayne Minor, who owns a car dealership in Newport

Beach, said he is glad his son is back home safe.

“I think I’m happy,” he said. “It’s hard to say. I always hoped he’d

come back.”

Wayne Minor said he and his wife will visit their son “when the time

is right.”

“He’s our son and we love him,” he said. “But he has to assume

responsibility for his actions.”

Minor is currently being held in Orange County Jail. Patterson said

the District Attorney has asked for bail to be set at $250,000 on the

first charge, with no bail on the second.