An Oil City man who had warrants out for his arrest in four counties led state police on a vehicle chase through Oil City in the wee hours of Friday morning.
Franklin state police said in a criminal complaint that at about 12:45 a.m. Friday, two troopers were stopped in their cruiser at the intersection of Elm and Sycamore streets when they saw a vehicle, driven by Brent Baker, 57, stopped at the intersection of Seneca and Center streets.
As the cruiser traveled across Veterans Bridge behind Baker’s vehicle, the troopers noticed Baker was speeding across the bridge and then didn’t stop for a red light at the end of the bridge when he turned onto East Front Street, the complaint said.
Baker seemed like he would stop twice, but then kept going, the complaint noted.
Troopers tried to stop him but were unsuccessful, then Baker turned down Lincoln Street and stopped at the intersection of Lincoln and Orchard streets and immediately got out of his vehicle, according to the complaint.
Baker told the troopers he was trying to get his dog home because he knew he had warrants and was going to jail, the complaint said.
Baker’s active warrants are out of Venango, Butler, Erie and Mercer counties, according to the complaint.
He was charged with a felony count of flight to avoid apprehension/trial/punishment, two misdemeanor counts of recklessly endangering another person, misdemeanor counts of fleeing or attempting to elude police and disorderly conduct, as well as 17 summary traffic violations.
He was arraigned Friday and placed in the Venango County jail after being unable to post $75,000 bail, and his preliminary hearing is scheduled Wednesday in Central Court.
