A Saturday morning police chase ended when the suspect crashed his truck into a homemade waste bin according to the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department.
Herbert E. Hamilton, of Fairview, is charged with fleeing from an officer with reckless indifference.
The 63 year old was spotted in a red GMC truck on Yank Hollow Road, in Fairview, about 1:20 a.m. on Saturday, according to a criminal complaint.
Deputy J. Ward was searching for the truck because it had fled from him on Daybrook Road earlier in the night, the complaint said.
The truck did not have its headlights on and Ward turned his lights and sirens on to pull it over, the complaint said. The truck briefly turned its lights on and rapidly accelerated towards Daybrook Road.
Once at the intersection of Daybrook Road, the truck made a u-turn into the parking lot of an oil and gas company where it drove recklessly by weaving in and out of parked vehicles and large equipment, the complaint said.
Ward followed the truck with his cruiser’s lights and sirens still on as it turned back onto Yank Hollow Road, turned off its lights and sped up to a “high rate of speed.” Ward began to feel uncomfortable with the chase and started to back off it but left his lights and sirens on, the complaint said.
He then heard a “loud boom” and found the truck wrecked on Yank Hollow Road. The truck hit a rock embankment, spun out and crashed into a wooden trash bin, according to the complaint.
Hamilton was taken into custody without incident. Monongalia County Sheriff Perry Palmer said Hamilton was taken to J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital with minor injuries sustained in the crash.
Yank Hollow Road is typically busy with well pad traffic around the time of the chase, however there were no other vehicles on the road during the chase, the complaint said. Hamilton almost hit a fence and several tied up dogs at the home where he crashed.
Hamilton was arraigned in Monongalia County Magistrate Court and is free on $20,000 bond.
Palmer said additional charges could be pending.
