A Pennsylvania man led police on a chase through Greene County, Pa., and into Monongalia County before crashing and being arrested by West Virginia State Police.
Douglas Lee Gump, 33, of Marianna, is charged with fleeing with reckless indifference.
The Cumberland Township Police Department alerted MECCA 911 troopers were chasing Gump, driving a 2003 Chevrolet K15, into Monongalia County on Fort Martin Road, about 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, according to a criminal complaint.
Cumberland Township Chief Bryan Smith said the area experienced a string of vehicle thefts and the vehicle driven by Gump had fraudulent plates and was recently spray-painted, which is what thieves were doing to change the appearance of the vehicles.
A traffic stop was attempted, and Gump took off, Smith said.
Two WVSP troopers and the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department encountered the vehicle fleeing from a Cumberland Township police cruiser on Scotts Run Road, near Bertha Hill Road, the criminal complaint said.
Multiple police vehicles activated emergency lights and sirens in an attempt to stop the vehicle. The vehicle almost hit a WVSP vehicle, the complaint said.
The chase continued onto Chaplin Road and then Sugar Grove Road, where the vehicle crashed into a ditch and Gump was taken into custody, the complaint said.
The pursuit lasted for 26 miles total, which in terms of a police chase, is a long ways, Smith said.
Gump was arraigned in Monongalia County Magistrate Court and is being held in North Central Regional Jail in lieu of $50,000.
Smith said he expects Gump to be extradited to Pennsylvania, where he faces multiple felonies.
