TRUMBULL COUNTY Drug bust leads to chase

Police reported they found 11.8 ounces of cocaine and $9,000 in cash in one man's vehicle.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
BAZETTA -- A man police suspect of being a drug dealer tried to run over an officer and crashed his car into a township police car in an attempt to escape arrest, officials said.
Scott Morrison, 31, of Scott Street, Warren, was eventually apprehended and is in the Trumbull County Jail without bond on drug trafficking charges.
Detective Jeff Orr of the Trumbull County Drug Task Force said undercover officers bought drugs from Morrison and Robert Denna, 55, of state Route 305 about 10 a.m. Wednesday on Bazetta Road near the Mosquito Lake State Park campground entrance.
Chase began: The officers then arrested Denna on a charge of drug trafficking, but Morrison fled in his car, Orr said, leading police on a chase. He tried to cut through a yard on Durst-Clagg Road, briefly getting stuck, Sheriff Thomas Altiere said.
"Morrison's car got stuck in the yard, and the officers went up to his car, identified themselves as police officers, and he tried to run them over," the sheriff said.
Orr said he was one of the officers who almost was hit by Morrison's car.
He said Morrison drove off and he fired at him twice.
No one was hit by the shots, Orr said.
Officers followed Morrison east on Route 305.
Hit cruiser: Sgt. Charles Sayers of the township police department was setting up a roadblock on Route 305 when Morrison crashed into his cruiser.
"I got the car to stop," Sayers said, with a chuckle. Sayers was not injured.
Morrison got out of his car and tried to run. He was caught by deputy sheriffs, police said.
"I don't know why he ran," Orr said.
Denna has been released on a $15,000 bond.
"These two were pretty active dealers, and they were being watched for a year," Altiere said.
Altiere and Bazetta Police Chief Robert Jacola said during a press conference Wednesday that 11.8 ounces of cocaine and $9,000 in cash were found in Morrison's vehicle.
"This was a very good bust," Jacola said. "Everyone worked well together, and I'm glad it ended without anyone getting hurt."