Dennis Hunter, 40, of Rohnert Park, landed his plane on a road in Arkansas.
Dennis Hunter, 40, faces aggravated assault and fleeing charges stemming from the Monday incident at the Saline County Airport, where he had stopped to refuel on a business trip to the East Coast.
“It was just a bad decision that got worse and worse and worse,” said Hunter, the owner of a local company that sells planter boxes.
Hunter is not the prominent real estate developer Dennis Hunter, though Arkansas media reports suggested he was. The developer is 70 and lives in Santa Rosa, according to voter registration records.
Saline County deputies said Homeland Security officials asked them to detain Hunter when he landed at the airport southwest of Little Rock on Monday evening. When they got there, Hunter had already touched down and was refueling his 2001 Cirrus, a small single-engine fixed wing airplane.
When he spotted them, he jumped back into the cockpit and hastily took off before even reaching the runway. The assault charge stems from deputies' claim that the plane's wing nearly hit one of them as it rolled away from the fuel pump, according to sheriff's officials.
Hunter said Saturday he believes Homeland Security officials wanted him questioned because his plane is out of compliance with a safety regulation and therefore wasn't properly registered. His plane is equipped with a parachute that is supposed to be replaced every 10 years, but a new one costs about $20,000 and he hadn't done it, which may have been the reason for the inquiry, he said.
“It's really stupid and I'm foolish for that shortcut,” Hunter said.
Hunter said he saw and heard deputies ordering him to stop but panicked. They were never in any danger of being struck by by his plane, he said.
Saline County sheriff's officials said there was no one available Saturday who could comment on the incident.
Hunter took off, but he didn't get far.
Deputies said Hunter left behind a credit card slip with his name on it in the fuel pump. A short while later, Hunter set the plane down on a rural road near the town of Stuttgart, about 60 miles southeast of Little Rock. He said he landed because the engine wasn't running properly and because he realized officers may very well be waiting for him at the next airport.
He landed safely, but the plane's nose gear ran into ditch, according to photos from the scene.
Hunter said he spent the night near the plane, but when deputies drove up the next morning, he fled again, running to the woods, he said.
That sparked a manhunt that included numerous officers and bloodhounds. Hunter declined to say where he hid or went next, but eventually he contacted an attorney and turned himself in Friday.
He was released on $150,000 bond and has a court hearing next month.
The event caused a flurry of media activity in Arkansas, which followed closely the story of the “fugitive pilot” who had evaded deputies and was wanted by Homeland Security.
Hunter owns GeoPot, which designs and sells fabric pots and planter boxes. He recently moved the business from Petaluma to Occidental Road in Santa Rosa. Hunter pulled up to the business Saturday afternoon driving a Prius and initially declined to answer questions about the episode other than to chastise the media for blowing it out of proportion.
He later acknowledged his own errors, said he is embarrassed by the whole affair, and intends to set it right.
“It was sensational and stupid all at the same time,” he said.
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http://registry.faa.gov/N960CM
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