Man gets 33 months in jail for police chase

Staff report

WARREN

Aswad Fleming, 22, of West Avenue Northwest, will spend nearly three years in prison for leading police on a 26-minute high-speed and low-speed chase through the north side of Warren on May 8, 2011.

At one point during the chase, even a half- dozen vehicles belonging to citizens pulled in front of Fleming’s vehicle, urging him to stop.

“Approximately two to three dozen people were yelling at the suspect and throwing various items at his vehicle,” Sgt. Manny Nites wrote in a police report.

“The suspect was raising his arms out his driver’s- side window, pumping his fist in the air indicating he was some sort of hero.”

Fleming pleaded guilty to five felony charges Wednesday in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court, including felonious assault, failure to stop after an accident and tampering with evidence.

A Warren police officer was injured in a collision with another vehicle that occurred as the officer was assisting with the chase. The chase began when Nites attempted to stop Fleming for loud music.

Judge W. Wyatt McKay sentenced Fleming to two years and nine months in prison.

The chase prompted an internal-affairs investigation by the Warren Police Department that concluded that the officers had not violated departmental policies while conducting the chase.