Man facing many charges after police chase, struggle

The man led officers on a high-speed chase, a police report says.

STAFF REPORT

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — A city man is facing numerous charges after a domestic dispute turned into a high-speed chase and struggle with police, city police report.

Police said it began when they responded to a disturbance at a home on Waldo Street around 8 p.m. Thursday.

A woman there told them that her live-in boyfriend, James Beeker, 37, had assaulted her father and then took her car without permission.

Police spotted the car on Moravia Street and attempted to stop it, but it took off at high speed, the report said.

Police said Beeker turned east on Long Avenue and headed toward the intersection with Mill Street, nearly hitting the cruiser that was pursuing him after he went into the westbound lane. That officer drove onto the sidewalk to avoid a collision, the report says.

Police said they pursued Beeker into an alley behind his residence on Waldo Street, and when he got out of the car there, he became aggressive.

He struggled with police after they took him to the ground and tried to handcuff him, and he kicked a police dog, the report said.

The dog bit him on the arms and legs.

Police said they could smell “a strong odor” of alcohol on Beeker, and his eyes were bloodshot and glassy.

They took him to Jameson Health Center, where he refused a blood test, they said, and became disorderly.

He threatened to kill a police officer there with him several times, the report said. He was taken to jail to await his arraignment.

He is charged with aggravated assault, unauthorized use of an automobile, reckless endangering, resisting arrest, fleeing police, driving under the influence, cruelty to police animals, terroristic threats and reckless driving.