A Morgantown man is accused of leading police on a case on Fairmont Road and the surrounding area after hitting two police cruisers to escape after getting caught shoplifting at University Town Centre.
Olekisy Anatoliyovych Titov, 25, is charged with fleeing from an officer with reckless indifference by the Granville Police Department.
Chief Craig Corkrean said no one was injured the chase — although the department is down one cruiser which ran into an embankment as Titov was pulling into a driveway. He then ran away and was arrested by the West Virginia State Police.
The second damaged cruiser has “functional damage,” Corkrean said. The Westover Police Department and Monongalia County Sheriff’s Office also helped chase Titov.
About 4:30 p.m. on Thursday Granville police were called to Walmart for a male shoplifting suspect who was attempting to leave after being confronted by Walmart loss prevention, according to a criminal complaint.
The first officer to arrive attempted to block Titov from leaving his parking spot Titov crashed his truck into the cruiser and left the parking lot, the complaint said. Near the Black Bear stadium a Granville officer placed her cruiser in the road to try and force Titov into the stadium handicap lot. Titov did not stop and crashed into the cruiser, the complaint states.
The chase continued to the Fort Martin Road, Lawless Road, Mall Road, and Fairmont Road, with Titov ignoring several traffic laws, such as red lights, according to the complaint.
Residents on Glory Barn Road, River Road, and Lower Hildebrand Road — where an officer attempted to push his truck off the road — also bore witness to the chase.
Ultimately chase ended back on Fairmont Road where an officer a hooked Titov’s truck with her vehicle and while attempting to push him off the road crashed into an embankment when they untangled pulling into a driveway that led to his parent’s house, the complaint said.
Titov ran and was chased by multiple agencies and arrested.
Titov was arraigned by Magistrate Ron Bane and is being held in North Central Regional Jail in lieu of $20,000.
