A sheriff’s deputy found a confirmed stolen vehicle around 7:15 a.m. and attempted to stop it before a pursuit started, said Clark County Sheriff’s Office Lt. John Rodgers.
The driver of the vehicle, identified as John Anderson, 36, went through a neighborhood near Enon and went onto I-70. As soon as the driver got on the highway and before it could get up to “dangerous speeds,” the pursing deputy initiated a PIT maneuver and made contact with the vehicle, Rodgers said.
PIT stands for precision immobilization technique, a move law enforcement uses to stop vehicles.
The vehicle then spun out in the median, and the driver was arrested. He was not injured but was taken to the hospital to be checked out as a precaution.
There was also a passenger who was not hurt or charged and was released.
Two sheriff’s officers cruisers were “incapacitated” at the time of the incident, Rodgers said.
Shortly after that crash, two commercial motor vehicles were involved in separate crash that happened at 7:44 a.m. on I-70 near State Route 4 in Mad River Twp., Clark County, according to Ohio State Highway Patrol Sgt. E.J. Devers.
Two people were injured in that crash, with Marc Zulme, 30, of Morrisville, Pennsylvania, being transported by air ambulance to Miami Valley Hospital with serious injuries and the Adam Patton, 50, of Kansas City, Missouri, to Springfield Regional Medical Center with unknown injuries, Devers said.
Rodgers said the stolen vehicle was from Dayton, and there were at least four other pursuits with the driver throughout the night in Miami and Montgomery counties, but was lost each time.
Anderson was charged with felony fleeing, felony obstruction, resisting arrest, assault on a peace officer and OVI, according to Rodgers, and additional charges may be added.
The eastbound lanes were closed on I-70 at times, then traffic was allowed to use the far left lanes to get through, but traffic was backed up for some time.
Troopers from the Springfield Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol are investigating the two-vehicle serious-injury crash.
Deputies will handle the stolen vehicle investigation and crash.
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