Driver flees after crash during pursuit in Sidney

UPDATE @ 9:40 p.m. Feb. 20:

A driver is wanted tonight for fleeing an I-75 traffic stop, then crashing into another car before taking off on foot during a pursuit.

A trooper tried to stop a 2003 Honda Accord for speeding and following too closely shortly before 5:30 p.m. along northbound Interstate 75 in Miami County. The driver pulled over, but then took off after the trooper got out of his cruiser, according to Sgt. Ross Reed of the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Piqua Post.

The driver continued north on I-75 into Shelby County. He got off the highway and traveled to Sidney. He crashed into another car with two people inside along North Walnut Avenue just north of Michigan Street.

One of the occupants, a man, was taken to a local hospital as a precaution, according to the highway patrol.

The driver fled his car after the crash, and has not yet been caught.

Troopers remained on scene for about 45 minutes to an hour searching for the driver, and now Sidney police officers on patrol are keeping an eye out for him, Reed said.

The highway patrol knows the suspect’s identity, but is not releasing his name until an arrest warrant has been issued. He faces possible felony charges of fleeing and eluding two counts of vehicular assault and leaving the scene of an accident in addition to the traffic citations, Reed said.

The suspect’s car was towed from the scene.

FIRST REPORT

Troopers are searching for driver tonight who fled after he crashed his car during a pursuit.

A trooper tried to stop a car for a moving violation shortly before 5:30 p.m. along Interstate 75 in Miami County, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Piqua Post.

The driver did not stop, and continued to head north on I-75 into Shelby County, according to the highway patrol.

The driver got off the highway in Sidney, and crashed in the area of North Walnut Avenue near Forest Street, before fleeing his car on foot, the patrol reported.

No one else was believed to have been in the car.

Troopers remained on scene.