Duluth man accused of shooting at vehicle makes court appearance

SUPERIOR — A Duluth man accused of shooting a gun toward an occupied vehicle outside Lady Vi’s in Superior waived his preliminary hearing in Douglas County Circuit Court on Jan. 23 and was bound over for arraignment.

Darius Leelionza Handy, 32, faces felony counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, possession of a firearm by an outstate felon and bail jumping as well as misdemeanor counts of battery, criminal damage to property and disorderly conduct.

A cash bond of $3,000 and a signature bond of $2,500 were set and Handy was ordered to have no contact with the victims and no possession of any firearms.

Contributed / Douglas County Jail

Superior Police officers responded to the area of 628 Tower Ave. at about 2:18 a.m. Jan. 11 after someone reported being shot at, according to the criminal complaint.

Three women told a Superior police officer they encountered Handy at Lady Vi’s. Handy knew one of the complainants and they started arguing, according to the complaint. The witnesses reported that Handy put his hands around the woman's neck and pushed her up against the bar. Handy reportedly had to be pulled off the victim several times.

The women left and got into their car, which was parked on North Seventh Street close to Tower Avenue. Handy reportedly followed, brandished a firearm at them and hit the driver’s side back passenger window with the gun, which broke the window.

The women said Handy then got into a vehicle parked in front of theirs, opened the door, leaned out and shot his gun toward them one or two times. Nobody was struck and there were no bullet holes or indications the bullet hit the vehicle the women were in, according to the complaint. Handy’s vehicle left and the women drove south on Tower Avenue to get away from the situation.

Superior police officer Aaron Lofgren reported finding freshly broken glass on the ground where the vehicles were parked, which matched the broken window on the womens’ vehicle.

Handy will be arraigned on Jan. 31 — a court hearing where he will make a formal plea to the felony charges. Handy pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor counts at his initial hearing Jan. 13, according to online court records.

The most serious crime Handy faces is first-degree recklessly endangering safety, a class F felony punishable by up to 12 years and six months of imprisonment and a fine of up to $25,000. The bail jumping charge is because he was out on bail on a prior criminal damage to property charge and the new charges violation the conditions of his release.

This story was updated at 8:43 a.m. Monday, Jan. 27 with information about why Handy was charged with bail jumping. It was originally posted at 3:45 p.m. Friday, Jan. 24.