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Man flees cops, gets third OVI in four years
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
A man who reports said fled police early Wednesday in a high-speed chase on Fifth Avenue asked to be released without bond at his municipal court arraignment later in the day.
Magistrate Anthony Sertick, however, said the actions Robert Ellis, 45, is accused of put a lot of people in danger, from innocent drivers to police officers.
Ellis was arraigned before Sertick on charges of operating a vehicle impaired and failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer. Reports said Youngstown State University police spotted a car Ellis was driving just before 3 a.m. run through several stop signs on Fifth Avenue.
A university officer pulled Ellis over at Fifth and North Heights and asked Ellis if he had been drinking. Reports said he told the officer he had two or three beers but he smelled heavily of alcohol and his speech was slurred.
When the officer walked back to his cruiser to do a background check on Ellis, he drove away, reports said.
Reports said he drove at high speed on Fifth and turned his car around toward the Madison Avenue Expressway where he blew a tire at the Eastbound Service Road. A cruiser managed to box him in on the freeway and he was stopped after he collided with the cruiser.
He was then taken to the Canfield Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol for a breath test, where his blood-alcohol content registered at 0.09. In Ohio, someone is considered driving drunk if their BAC is 0.08 or more.
Reports said police found an open beer bottle in Ellis’ car, two unopened bottles and several pills. Ellis told police he had taken the pills because of pain and also drank some beer.
Assistant Prosecutor Kathy Thompson told Sertick that Ellis had OVI convictions in January 2015 and February 2012. She asked for a $5,000 bond on each charge.
Ellis asked for a recognizance bond. He said he has a daughter to raise, and his wife just died.
“I’m trying to do my very best,” Ellis said.
Sertick said he could not overlook that Ellis’ actions put peoples’ lives at risk. He set the OVI bond at $3,500 and the fleeing and eluding bond at $5,000.
“Not only did you put yourself in a dangerous situation but you put the police officers and anybody else on the road in a precarious situation,” Sertick said.