Police arrest man accused of fleeing after chase, crash

The suspect was arrested after a traffic stop outside Meadville.

STAFF REPORT

SHARON, Pa. — A man who police say fought with them after a chase and car wreck then fled St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown has been arrested in Meadville.

Kevin Washington Jr., 49, of Pennsylvania Avenue, Farrell, is facing two aggravated assault charges for almost colliding with a police car and spitting blood in an officer’s face Sept. 14.

He is also facing charges of fleeing and eluding, resisting arrest, possession of a controlled substance, possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and eight traffic violations.

A city police officer had tried to stop Washington after he ran a stop sign around 7 p.m. at Malleable and New Castle streets.

He refused to stop and led police on a chase that went into Farrell and back into Sharon, ending when he wrecked into a tree on Prindle Street, police said.

Washington was combative during his arrest, with a stun gun and pepper spray having no effect on him, police reported. He was taken to Sharon Regional Health Center with a police escort in the ambulance because he fought with the crew, police said.

He was transferred to St. Elizabeth’s because of trauma from his accident, and fled the next day as police waited for the hospital to clear him for extradition proceedings, said Police Chief Michael Menster.

Menster said police found him in Vernon Township outside Meadville on Tuesday night during a traffic stop in which he gave a fake name.

He was released at the traffic stop, but police did additional checking and realized his real identity, Menster said.

They tracked him to a bar in Meadville, where he was arrested with the assistance of a police dog.

Sharon detectives brought him from Meadville to his arraignment Wednesday before District Justice James McMahon, Menster said, and he was taken to the Mercer County Jail afterward in lieu of $200,000 bond.