Ex-NASCAR driver pleads not guilty in high-speed pursuit, drug case
Timothy Tyler Andrew Walker, 33, and Raelle Hann McDonald, 30, who both list the same Hermosa Beach, Calif., address with the court, waived an evidentiary hearing in the case and asked the court to accept the pleas through their attorney, Douglas Terry.
Walker and McDonald didn’t appear with Terry in court. Terry informed Judge Eric Ludlow that his clients are free on bail and asked the court to set a review hearing in the case.
Ludlow scheduled the hearing for Sept. 5 at 10:30 a.m.
Terry noted that some of the paperwork related to the not guilty pleas is still in transit – McDonald received only the form allowing her to waive the evidentiary hearing and is awaiting the arraignment waiver. Walker’s waivers are being overnighted to the court.
Walker is charged with three felonies and five misdemeanors and McDonald is charged with two felonies and three misdemeanors stemming from their Jan. 30 arrests on an Interstate 15 ramp at Exit 6.
Walker gained fame during the past decade as a driver in the World of Outlaws sprint car series, then as a NASCAR sprint car and truck series driver. After 28 runs with NASCAR, he was suspended from racing for reportedly violating the series’ drug policy in 2007, but continued to race in other venues until the month of his arrest.
Walker and McDonald were arrested following a highway pursuit begun by a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper who allegedly saw Walker’s BMW traveling at speeds up to 150 mph. The pursuit continued the 30 miles through the Arizona Strip to the Utah state line, where Utah Highway Patrol troopers set up spikes to deflate the vehicles tires.
After the vehicle ran over the spikes, it came to a stop north of the SunRiver exit but then returned to the road as officers approached, driving at speeds greater than 80 mph until a rear tire blew out near Exit 6, according to the report.
The car began to drive the wrong way up the Exit 6 offramp as other vehicles were traveling down it. The driver, later identified as Walker, then ran toward another vehicle, “possibly to take it from its driver," the report states.
Walker was tackled by one of the troopers and McDonald was taken into custody after exiting the passenger side of the vehicle. Animal control officers took custody of two dogs in the vehicle, according to the report.
Officers reported that during subsequent investigation they found evidence of marijuana, methamphetamine, hashish and an open bottle of vodka in the vehicle where both occupants might have had access to them, as well as multiple new and used pipes for consuming the drugs.