Career Criminal Sentenced to 30 Years to Life for Deadly DUI Pursuit

Published on May 06, 2025

Roger Lynn Harris (38, of Fresno) was sentenced today to five years plus thirty years to life in state prison for his role in a fatal DUI pursuit. The charges include gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, evading an officer causing death, assault with a deadly weapon, driving under the influence of drugs, hit and run from a fatal collision, and being a violent felon in possession of a firearm. The sentence follows Harris’s guilty plea on April 2, 2025, after the commencement of his trial. The Honorable Monica Diaz of the Fresno County Superior Court handed down the sentence.

The charges stem from an incident on April 23, 2020, at approximately 3:30 p.m., when Harris was stopped by Fresno Police Department officers near North Fresno Street and East Olive Avenue for running a stop sign. After initially pulling over and speaking with officers, they observed a handgun on the passenger side of his vehicle. When officers instructed Harris to remove his keys from the ignition, he instead restarted his vehicle and fled eastbound on Olive Avenue at a high rate of speed, running red lights and driving into oncoming traffic.

Near the intersection of East Olive and North Rowell Avenues, Harris veered into opposing lanes and struck a pickup truck head-on. The driver, Guy Shearer (48, of Fresno), was pronounced dead at the scene. Harris fled the scene on foot through a nearby residential area but was quickly detained by responding officers.

An investigation by the Fresno Police Department’s Traffic Enforcement Bureau determined that Harris was driving under the influence of marijuana at the time of the crash. Toxicological testing confirmed the impairment, and a loaded semiautomatic firearm was recovered from his vehicle.

At the time of the incident, Harris had two prior robbery convictions in California. Due to those prior convictions, he was sentenced under California’s Three Strikes Law.

The Fresno County District Attorney’s Office extends its gratitude to the Fresno Police Department for its thorough investigation, commitment to justice, and continued efforts to keep our roads safe from impaired drivers.

This case was successfully prosecuted by Senior Deputy District Attorney Steven Ueltzen, with assistance from Senior District Attorney Investigator Ronnie Sims. It was handled under the Alcohol and Drug Impaired Driver Vertical Prosecution Program, funded by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

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