Seeing the speeding Jeep coming right at them at Bottle Run Road and Woodbryn Drive in Old Lycoming Township about 3:45 p.m. Wednesday, the elderly pedestrian “grabbed his granddaughter, shielded her with his own body and quickly moved to grass along the road to avoid getting struck,” according to an affidavit.

Lycoming Regional police said the man allegedly behind the wheel was Eric Allen Horak, who was taken into custody at his township home following a pursuit.

It all started when an officer on routine patrol spotted a white Jeep Cherokee “traveling at a high rate of speed as it negotiated a slight turn and then ran off the roadway, almost striking a guardrail” in the 2500 block of Bottle Run Road, it was stated in the affidavit.

The officer quickly turned his cruiser around and began to pursue the reckless motorist.

As the officer approached Woodbryn Drive, he briefly spoke with the grandfather, who told him he and his granddaughter were almost hit by the SUV that was last seen heading north on Woodbryn Drive.

Other officers were immediately altered to the fleeing driver.

A second officer, seeing the Jeep in the 2700 block of Lycoming Creek Road, activated his cruiser’s emergency lights and siren as he pursued the driver, who first turned off onto Colvin Road and then proceeded to Dunkleberger Road and then Mitchell Hill Road, where the officer lost sight of him, the affidavit stated.

Another officer spotted the Jeep briefly in the 500 block of Bower Road. As officers looked for the Jeep in the neighborhood, a witness, who saw the SUV almost “strike multiple vehicles,” directed them to the 3100 block of Bottle Run Road, where the witness had earlier seen the driver getting mail from a mailbox, the affidavit stated.

The Jeep was parked behind Horak’s home at 3176 Bottle Run Road, police said, adding that “it was warm to the touch” and had damage to its front bumper and black tape around the driver’s side mirror.”

The first officer involved in the pursuit had noticed the damaged bumper and the black tape on the outside mirror as he chased after the Jeep.

Once in custody, Horak, 36, was charged with felony fleeing police, two counts of recklessly endangering another person, and several summary offenses, including driving with a suspended license.

While traveling “at a speed greater than 60 mph” on Colvin Road, which has a speed limit of 25 mph, “Horak passed a school bus stop with members of the public waiting at it,” police said.

Following his arraignment hours later before District Judge Kirsten Gardner, Horak was locked up in the Lycoming County Prison in lieu of $25,000 bail.