This is a developing story and will be updated as information becomes available.
A police pursuit that ended in a crash involving a Summit Metro Parks police cruiser prompted a large law enforcement response in Stow and Hudson on July 7.
Witnesses say police told them the suspect was apprehended after fleeing on foot following the crash in Stow.
The city of Hudson advised motorists to avoid the area of state Route 91 and Terex Road because of a crash “following an incident involving the Ohio State Highway Patrol pursuing a suspect.”
In a statement, the city said the suspect fled on foot outside Hudson city limits and that the Hudson Police Department was assisting at the crash scene. Officials said there was no current threat to the public, although multiple law enforcement agencies were active in Hudson and Stow.
Police chase suspect through Fox Den Golf Course in Stow
One video on social media showed police pursuing the suspect in a minivan going through the Fox Den Golf Course.
Earlier in the evening, state Sen. Casey Weinstein posted on social media that an active manhunt was underway near Ellsworth Meadows on Barlow Road.
Multiple police agencies and an overturned Summit Metro Parks police cruiser were spotted near Saybrooke Boulevard and Bunker Lane in Stow.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol is leading the investigation, according to Stow Police Capt. Bryan Snavely.
Snavely said he could not provide additional information Tuesday night and was unable to comment on whether anyone was injured.
Witnesses describe police chase, crash in Stow neighborhood
Witnesses said the chase through the usually quiet Stow neighborhood off Fishcreek Road came to an end about 8:35 p.m. when the speeding minivan, driven by a man, slammed into a parked Summit MetroParks park ranger cruiser that was trying to divert traffic.
The officer in the cruiser saw the speeding minivan approaching and decided to jump out before his vehicle was overturned and totaled, Summit Metro Parks told Beacon Journal news partner News 5 Cleveland.
The driver then fled on foot, according to witnesses.
“The car he flipped over was parked at a stop sign,” said Sam Nowak, 15, who witnessed the crash and subsequent pursuit.
The cruiser flipped on its side and landed in the front yard next to Kim Smith’s home.
Smith said she was in her dining room when she heard police sirens screaming down the street.
“And then I saw the car zooming down the side yard, and then I saw the police with their guns drawn,” she said.
“And then I heard the bang” of the crash, she said.
Courtney Cooper, who lives next door to where the crash happened. Her son had just asked to go outside and ride his scooter – and she’s now grateful she said “no.”
“He would have been right there,” she said.
She saw officers get out of their vehicles to chase the suspect through yards as he ran from the minivan after the crash.
“Stay in the house now!” she yelled at her family.
A friend who lives on Lockwood Circle in Stow told her they saw officers apprehend the fleeing man there.
Another resident, Josh Duda, said he heard from a friend that the chase began in Hudson before the minivan sped down his street.
Duda estimated the vehicle was traveling at least 50 mph when it struck the parked cruiser.
“He hit that Metro Park car straight on and flipped it over,” Duda said
Melissa Mocek and her husband, John, were watching TV in their home on Saybrooke Boulevard when they heard a “bang” from the crash and sirens.
“So we looked out the front window and I was like, “Holy crap, there’s a cop car in our front yard,’” she said. “So then we went upstairs to get a better view and we saw a whole bunch of cops and all the cars, and they were running through our yard to the backyard. …They were very clearly chasing someone.”
When things calmed down, she said, they then talked to the officer parked in their front yard, who told them they had been chasing a fugitive who had stabbed his girlfriend 20 times.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Police chase through Hudson ends in Stow crash following manhunt
Reporting by Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Akron Beacon Journal | USA TODAY Network
