From staff reports
An Oil City man is facing charges for running from police twice in two days.
Oil City police said they initially made contact with Derrick Phillip Davis, 20, at about 9:30 p.m. Monday when he ran in front of a patrol vehicle on North Seneca Street.
Davis reportedly told police he was running from someone who was chasing him with a baseball bat and said his name was Derrick Phillips, a criminal complaint said.
The complaint said interviews with employees at Pizza Hut, which was near where officers made contact with Davis, revealed that Davis had arrived shortly before “to engage in an altercation with his ex-girlfriend.”
Employees told police Davis became aggressive when he was asked to leave the property and began lifting his shirt and stating that he had a gun, the complaint said. At that time, an employee retrieved a baseball bat and told Davis to leave again, according to the complaint.
Police said that when they tried to place Davis under arrest he ran south down North Seneca Street and into Oil Creek where officers apprehended him.
Franklin police said in another criminal complaint that Davis again fled officers when he was being transported from the Venango County jail to the Franklin police station for fingerprinting at about noon Tuesday.
Franklin police said Davis was found a short time later hiding in an “overgrown backyard” in the 1300 block of Chestnut Street in Franklin.
The complaint said he was again taken into custody and transported to the Franklin police department.
Davis has been charged with felony counts of escape and flight to avoid apprehension/trial/punishment and misdemeanor counts of escape, terroristic threats, resisting arrest, recklessly endangering another person, false identification to law enforcement officer and disorderly conduct.
He was arraigned Tuesday morning and again Tuesday afternoon and was lodged in the Venango County jail after being denied bail.
Preliminary hearings for Davis are scheduled Oct. 28 in Central Court.
