Windham man escapes from cuffs and cruiser

Police are looking for the ‘small, wiry’ man.

By ED RUNYAN

VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

BAZETTA — Police are on the lookout for a Windham man who escaped from the back of a Bazetta police car Saturday afternoon after he had been arrested in the theft of three baseball caps from a clearance rack at Wal-Mart.

Police Chief Charles Sayers said Chad Kesling, 27, of 9630 East Center St., managed to slip one of the handcuffs off of his wrists and unlock a back door to the cruiser before fleeing on foot to the area behind the Elm Road Wal-Mart.

Sayers said the department sealed off the area. The canine unit of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources helped search the area but Kesling was not found.

Kesling is being charged with aggravated assault on a police officer and escape — both felonies — plus misdemeanor charges of theft and resisting arrest. The value of the caps is $25.

The aggravated assault charge stemmed from the scuffle Kesling had with officer Shawn Rentz while Rentz was apprehending him around 5:11 p.m., Sayers said.

The incident began when Rentz was called to Wal-Mart for a car parked in the fire lane. While waiting for someone to come out of the store, an employee yelled, “He’s getting away,” and Rentz saw the man later identified as Kesling running from the store.

Put into cruiser

Rentz chased Kesling to an area near the Eat’N Park Restaurant a short distance from Wal-Mart, scuffled with Kesling, handcuffed him and put him into the back of his cruiser. Three bystanders helped Rentz get his handcuffs out so he could put them on Kesling, Sayers said. The suspect was cuffed with his hands behind his back.

Rentz left Kesling alone in the cruiser to talk to witnesses. A window in the back of the cruiser was open 2 to 3 inches to provide him with some ventilation in the 90-degree heat, Sayers said.

Kesling apparently reached through the open window to open his door from the outside, Sayers said.

“According to [Rentz], he put [the handcuffs] on very good,” with a standard amount of slack of one to two fingers’ worth, Sayers said. Sayers described Kesling as a “small, wiry guy” about 5 feet 6 inches tall and 145 pounds.

runyan@vindy.com