Following a wild and dangerous chase that left four police officers and an innocent driver with injuries, three men are being charged.
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At a Wednesday night arraignment before District Judge Joanne Kline, Rodney Beaty, 26, of Bristol, was charged with reckless endangerment, receiving stolen property, fleeing or eluding police, resisting arrest and other offenses. Tevon Hall and Zahreldrick Hunt, both 18 and with an unlisted address, will be arraigned via video Thursday and are currently in a detention facility on warrants from when they were juveniles.
Around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, a Sirius XM radio employee called authorities to report a 2012 Hyundai stolen Tuesday out of Bristol Township which was tracked to Lower Bucks Hospital and then the Home Depot parking lot in Tullytown. A few minutes later, a motorist reported a road rage incident nearby where a gun was allegedly displayed, police said.
The chase kicked off shortly before noon when officers from Bristol Township, Tullytown and the Bucks County Sheriff’s Office began looking for the stolen vehicle that was reported to be involved in the road rage incident, Tullytown police Chief Daniel Doyle said.
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Bristol Township officers spotted the car and tried to stop it in the Home Depot parking lot. The car fled in reverse and struck two light poles. Furthermore, Hall got out of the rear and tried to run on foot before being arrested, according to court paperwork filed Wednesday night.
Credit: Submitted
The Hyundai with Beaty behind the wheel drove off and fled from police who were chasing with their lights and sirens activated. The pursuit reached speeds of up to 100 MPH and whizzed on several streets before crashing in a field that are intersected by train tracks in the area of Runway Road and Green Lane in Bristol Township, police said.
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After the crash, which caused a small brush fire, Hunt bailed and ran on foot. During the foot chase, Hunt pulled a semi-automatic gun from his waistband and pointed it toward an officer before tripping and dropping the firearm, police said.
Beaty, who was driving the stolen car, fled and was apprehended in a wooded area. He refused to cooperate with police and was pepper sprayed and forcefully detained by officers, police said.
Bristol Township police Lt. Ralph Johnson said one officer was injured in a crash with a Jeep during the chase at Mill Creek and Edgely roads, another suffered an ankle injury and two more had lacerations. Along with the citizen whose Jeep was struck, all five people suffered non-life-threatening injuries and were released from the hospital by Wednesday evening.
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The gun was examined and determined to have its serial number destroyed, police said.
The township’s in-house fire company responded to put out the small brush fire started by the crashed stolen car.
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Green Lane was closed for a bit as Bristol Borough, Bristol Township and Tullytown worked the scene along with the Bucks County Sheriff’s Office and township fire police.
The police-involved crash with the Jeep was being investigated by a township officer. The crash set off all the airbags on the newer-model patrol car and heavily damaged both vehicles.
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Beaty’s bail was set by Kline at 10 percent of $250,000.
Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.
