THOMPSON TOWNSHIP, Ohio — A 34-year-old man wanted for a pursuit in Ashtabula who allegedly tried to break into a garage in Thompson Township and then fled from police has been located by the Geauga County Sheriff's deputies and is in custody, according to an update from authorities.
On Tuesday morning, the Geauga County Sheriff's Office advised residents near Thompson Township to stay in their homes and to call authorities if the man was spotted spotted.
The sheriff's office said the man was wanted from a pursuit early Tuesday morning in Ashtabula.
Around 1 a.m. Tuesday, the sheriff's office was involved in a vehicle pursuit that ended in the woods near Philips Road. The two men inside the vehicle fled on foot.
Around 4 a.m., a resident in the 6800 block of Ledge Road reported a man came to his door claiming his car broke down and he needed to use the phone. The man ran off when the resident said he would call police.
A hunter later came across a man in the woods near a campfire who matched the description of the man, the sheriff's office said. The man ran off and went to a house on Rock Creek Road. Police said the man told the resident his car broke down and he needed a phone. The resident let the man use a phone in their garage. While the man was in the garage using the phone, a police officer pulled into the driveway. The man broke out a garage window and ran off into the woods.
More than a dozen sheriff's deputies and K-9 units, officers from the Thompson Township Police Department, U.S. Marshals task force officers, ODOT and the county drone team tracked the man across several miles through woods, swamps and fields. Authorities said that while evading police, the man broke into two vehicles, a barn and tried to break into a home. He was eventually caught on Barret Road and taken into custody.
He has been charged with breaking and entering, possession of illegal drugs, and illegal conveyance of drugs into a detention facility.
The second male has not been been located. Police are working to determine that person's identity.
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