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Driver denied bail following lengthy high-speed pursuit

Bail was denied Saturday for a Monroe County motorist who rammed two state police cruisers during a high-speed pursuit on Interstate 180 East that began in Loyalsock Township and ended about two miles west of Turbotville in Northumberland County, according to court records.

Driving a 2010 Honda Civic, Latrell Warrick, 20, of East Stroudsburg was initially clocked by Trooper Patrick Kineston traveling 94 mph in a 55 mph speed zone about 9:15 a.m., Cpl. Daniel Kozak said in the affidavit.

Activating his cruiser’s emergency lights and siren, Kineston pursued Warrick, who dropped down to a speed of 45 mph, but he would not pull over, Kozak said. The driver suddenly increased his speed to 100 mph as several other state troopers and local police joined the chase.

“An attempt was made to box in the Civic to try to bring the car to a controlled stop, but the driver abruptly turned right, ramming a marked cruiser driven by Trooper Thomas Spagnuolo,” disabling the police car, Kozak said.

Warrick’s speeds then varied between 55 mph and 90 mph, the corporal said. Several state police units from the Milton barracks began heading west towards the pursuit. Troopers deployed tire-deflation strips across the eastbound lanes, hoping the measure would disable the Civic, but as Warrick approached the strips, he turned sharply left, ramming and disabling Kineston’s cruiser, Kozak said. Neither Kineston or Spagnuolo was injured.

The Civic, which was registered to Warrick, went off the road, struck a guardrail and came to a stop in the grassy median, Kozak said. “Warrick was given multiple commands to release his hands from the steering wheel, but he failed to comply,” the corporal said. After a trooper deployed his taser, Warrick was forcibly removed from the driver’s seat, court records stated. He was found to have drug paraphernalia and a container of suspected marijuana, police said. He was taken to UPMC Muncy and placed in official custody after being medically cleared.

Warrick was jailed in the Lycoming County Prison following his arraignment before District Judge Jon E. Kemp on charges of felony fleeing police, DUI of a controlled substance (he refused to submit a blood test), two counts of recklessly endangering, resisting arrest, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, speeding and related traffic summaries.

At the prison, he was joined by Carla Page, 43, of 1821 Hazel Drive, Loyalsock Township, another motorist who was taken into custody following a pursuit that began when she was seen traveling east in the westbound lanes of Interstate 180 in Fairfield Township, just outside Montoursville, about 9:45 p.m. Friday, according to an affidavit.

A trooper traveling in the westbound lanes ordered her to make a U-turn and stop along the shoulder of the road. Page, driving a 2013 Hyundai Sonata, safely turned around — so she was now heading west — but did not stop, police said. The trooper pursued her with her cruiser’s emergency lights and siren activated, but Page continued, exiting at Fairfield Road and then turning onto Rakestraw Road where the pursuit ended after another trooper managed to do a safety maneuver with his cruiser called “a rolling roadblock,” court records stated.

While Page underwent a series of field sobriety tests, it was clear to police that she was impaired, the affidavit stated. She admitted to consuming alcohol and smoking PCP (a hallucinogenic drug) four to six hours earlier, police said. She submitted a blood sample, but the results will not be known for several weeks, police said.

Following her arraignment early Saturday morning before Kemp on charges of felony fleeing police, DUI, careless driving and reckless driving, Page was incarcerated in lieu of $15,000 bail.

Page’s arrests occurred just two days after yet another motorist ­­– with a child in his vehicle — took state police on a very brief pursuit Wednesday night on Route 220 just outside Williamsport.

Jarod Tedesco, 38, of Linden, was suspected of being under the influence of alcohol at the time, police said.

Tedesco was stopped by a state police corporal just outside the city about 6 p.m. because he was traveling at a very slow speed, and his Toyota Tundra pickup truck was weaving in-and-out of a travel lane.

He initially pulled over, but when a second trooper arrived to assist the corporal, Tedesco, still behind the wheel, took off, heading south on Route 220, police said.

The pursuit ended safely on Stewart Street, just off of Route 220, in Woodward Township after Tedesco was forced off the road by a maneuver in which his vehicle was “boxed in” by the two cruisers, police said.

Tedesco complied when he was ordered out of his truck at gunpoint, police said.

However, as he was being patted down, he became unruly and a brief struggle ensued, police alleged, resulting in the corporal suffering a hand injury.

Tedesco attempted to flee, but fell to the ground after a trooper deployed his taser.

The driver was taken to UPMC Williamsport, and upon being medically cleared, he was arraigned before District Judge William Solomon on numerous charges, including felony fleeing police, felony endangering the welfare of a child, resisting arrest, DUI, recklessly endangering and related offenses.

Tedesco, who refused to provide a blood sample, was committed to the Lycoming County Prison in lieu of $99,000 bail.

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