SHEFFIELD VILLAGE, Ohio (WJW) – Sheffield Village police and officers in multiple cities are looking for a driver who led them on a high-speed chase that injured two people.
It started in Rocky River when the man stole a Volkswagen from a driveway while the resident was unloading groceries.
That happened around 5 p.m. on May 11, but the pursuit continued for more than an hour and a half and included seven cities.
At one point on dash cam video, the driver is seen speeding directly toward an Avon Lake police cruiser.
“He was all over,” said Sgt. Todd Denman with Sheffield Village Police Department. “Driving erratically and at high speeds.”
He travelled from Rocky River to Avon, Avon Lake and then entered Sheffield Village on I-90 Westbound where he did a U-turn and struck a car traveling in the opposite direction.
“Both of those people that were in that vehicle were taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries,” said Sgt. Denman.
However, the man wasn’t done running.
He jumped a fence and ran into a neighborhood where he found an unlocked garage and stole a second car on Taylor Court.
Although officers had established a perimeter, the man managed to get away, driving at speeds of 60 mph on residential roads with many children and families.
From there, he fled to Elyria, then Strongsville and finally Cleveland where it’s believed the car ran out of gas.
Officers in each jurisdiction were forced to terminate the pursuit due to safety concerns.
“You know, it’s rush hour, people are going home in the evening, it’s a lot of traffic and he was driving very erratically. Driving off the right side of the road, passing lots of vehicles at a high rate of speed, so we decided to terminate it for safety issues,” said Sgt. Denman.
Now, police in all of the cities are still looking for the driver and have released an image captured on a home camera.
They say he faces multiple charges, including burglary and grand theft auto.
Sgt. Denman says the two people struck are lucky they weren’t more seriously injured, along with everyone else who was on the road that night.
“It could have been a lot worse, especially the way he was driving,” said Sgt. Denman.
Anyone with information about the driver’s identity is asked to call Sheffield Village police at 440-949-6325, Avon Lake police at 440-933-4567 or Rocky River Police at 440-331-1234.