PARMA, Ohio (WJW) — Four suspects believed to be responsible for a series of break-ins at Northeast Ohio car dealerships and the thefts of dozens of high-end vehicles faced a judge for the first time on Tuesday afternoon.

Nineteen-year-old Makilin Wilson, who is considered by police to be the leader of the theft ring, was arraigned in Parma Municipal Court on charges related to a police pursuit on Saturday that led to the arrest of Wilson and three other men.

“They were traveling at a high rate of speed, 75 to 80 miles an hour, on a Saturday night, 8 p.m., in the city of Parma down State Road and nearly struck several police cars,” Parma Law Director Timothy Dobeck told Judge Deanna O’Donnell.

Also facing preliminary charges in municipal court are 19-year-old Kyer Allen, 19-year-old Dahmere Lymon and 22-year-old Miguel Hernandez.

The big break in the investigation came when a Parma police officer spotted an SUV that had been seen outside some of the dealerships that were broken into. When the suspects refused to pull over, police used stop sticks to flatten the tires on the SUV. The men then bailed out of the SUV along Interstate 480 and fled into a heavily wooded area.

Video from the Ohio State Highway Patrol shows how technology on board a patrol helicopter played a crucial role in rounding up the four men. With the patrol chopper and a drone providing eyes in the sky, police and their K-9s were able to track down one of the suspects as he crawled in the mud along a cliff.

Two of the other men ran and jumped into a car driven by an accomplice. The car was outfitted like a detective’s car, but police were not fooled by the ruse and surrounded the vehicle. Inside was the getaway driver and two of the suspects, who were covered in mud after crawling through the woods.

Investigators said evidence gathered in the dealership break-ins and the theft of dozens of cars will now be presented to a Cuyahoga County grand jury, which will consider felony charges against the four defendants.

Judge O’Donnell told each of the suspects that she was concerned that they might flee, so she ordered each of them to be held on a cash bond, and to surrender their driver’s licenses.