Austintown man leads police on 13-mile chase

Staff report

GOSHEN

Police say an Austintown man told them he led authorities on a 13-mile, 15-minute pursuit through four Mahoning County townships because he didn’t believe the “real police” were chasing him.

Michael Hood, 19, was booked into the Mahoning County jail on charges of failure to comply with the order of a police officer, resisting arrest and operating a vehicle while impaired, according to 21 WFMJ-TV, The Vindicator’s broadcast partner.

Hood is free on bond.

A Goshen Township police officer reports he turned on his flashing lights and sirens after clocking a sedan speeding along state Route 45 about 3 a.m. Friday.

The TV station said the officer could see the car’s four-way hazard flashers were switched on just south of the U.S. Route 224 intersection in Ellsworth Township.

According to the report, one of two county sheriff office’s cruisers that joined the chase along Route 45 was nearly struck when it attempted to pull in front of the car.

Milton Township police joined the pursuit as the car turned east onto Mahoning Avenue. One of the car’s tires was flattened by spiked stop strips an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper had placed on Mahoning near Lipkey Road, but the car kept driving.

As the car turned north onto North Turner Road, Austintown police joined the chase.

The car eventually pulled into a driveway on North Turner. Hood was the driver. Police said Hood resisted being handcuffed, and it took two officers to place him in custody, the TV station reported.

A search of the car turned up a prescription bottle containing what police described as a “leafy, green, organic substance,” along with a vaporizer and bottles of other substances.

The officer says Hood’s eyes appeared to be glassy, and his speech was described as slowed and slurred.

When asked why he hadn’t stopped, Hood told the officer he didn’t believe the initial pursuing cruiser was the “real police.”