A 22-year-old man is facing a felony charge after he allegedly led Brook Park police officers and Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers on a chase from Brook Park to Cleveland, all while having his 2-year-old child in the vehicle.
Thankfully, everyone is okay, but Brook Park Police are sharing the video on social media to send a message.
According to the Brook Park Police Department, the chase started Thursday around 11:17 a.m.
“You couldn't see the license plate on the window clearly,” said Edward Powers III, Brook Park Police chief.
It was a black Nissan Sentra, and the dash cam video shows officers trying to stop it on Brook Park Road.
Instead, the driver pulled into a drive-thru line.
“He was making eye contact through the mirrors with our officer, our officer continued to have his lights and siren on, at one point he went like, come on dude and the guy, realizing that my officer was not going to go away,” said Chief Powers.
Just moments later, the driver sped off. Police chased the Nissan for about 2 miles, running through red lights and reaching a speed of 77 miles per hour.
The driver tried to shake officers off, leading to a "pursuit where this ridiculous driving took place," police said. Other officers joined in on the chase, and as the driver went straight toward a Special Response Team trooper, it finally ended near West 130th Street and Bellaire Road in Cleveland.
After stopping, the driver's vehicle was searched, and police found a 2-year-old child and a woman inside. Police said that the driver stopped directly in the "path of a semi tractor trailer that had almost demolished the vehicle."
“Children hold a special place in our hearts. So we tend to, when there's a child involved, we tend to focus on that,” said Chief Powers.
Body camera video of the arrest shows the man asking what will happen to his son, to which an officer responds, "Why are you worried about him now, you weren't worried when you were driving?" The man responded, "Yes, I was."
In the video, the officer checks on the child, who is in a car seat in the back, and gives him a high-five, telling the boy that they are there to help him.
Fortunately, no one was hurt. Chief Powers said that when it comes to pursuits, officers are trained to gauge the risk.
“We were always assessing the risks [of] the injury to the officers, the people driving the public. We have certain criteria to call those off," said Chief Powers.
But they posted this specific chase on social media to remind drivers to cooperate.
“There's no reason that you should run from something like this, put yourself, your child in danger,” said Chief Powers.
The post also helps show who their officers are.
“We do care, and that we wanted to take care of the child, and just basically send a positive message to say, you know, just stop for the police. We'll help you through it. It's not going to be as bad as you think it is,” said Chief Powers.
The driver, who is from Cleveland, has been charged with felony fleeing and eluding, driving without a license, and endangering a child, according to Brook Park Police.
Additional charges may be forthcoming.
