Monday, March 19, 2001
The theft suspect was caught on foot by police.
WEST MIDDLESEX, Pa. -- Southwest Regional Police apprehended a man suspected of stealing a car and leading police on a chase this morning.
They caught up with the suspect on foot on Broadway Avenue near Precision Steel shortly after 9 a.m., about 11/2 miles from where he had abandoned a stolen car he was driving, police said.
Police said the chase began in Brookfield Township around 6 a.m.
Sharon police had put out a report about a car stolen from a Third Avenue, Sharon, woman. A Brookfield patrolman spotted the stolen vehicle on Sharon-Bedford Road and began chasing it, police said.
Sharon police said they had no information on the stolen car this morning.
Brookfield Township Police said the chase led across the border into Pennsylvania where Shenango Township police joined the pursuit.
Abandoned car: Police said the suspect abandoned the car in the Habarka Road area and ran into some nearby woods.
Police called in a tracking dog from the Sharpsville Police Department around 7:15 a.m. in an effort to follow the suspect's trail.
A state police helicopter joined the search shortly before 8 a.m. as authorities concentrated their efforts in a wooded area between Habarka Road and Oak Tree Country Club just south of Interstate 80.
The man driving the stolen car was described as between 35 and 40 years of age.