A police chase that started late Thursday in Springdale ended when the vehicle trying to escape wrecked after crossing the New Kensington Bridge, according to authorities.
Charges are pending against the alleged driver, police said, while Richard Joseph Mautino, 20, of New Kensington, faces several charges in connection with the incident. Police said he was a passenger.
A criminal complaint filed in the case said a Springdale police officer had been doing traffic enforcement in the area of Pittsburgh and Porter streets around 11:40 p.m. when he spotted a vehicle with a burned-out headlamp.
After catching up to it, Officer Jake Pollick noticed that it matched a vehicle involved in a Sept. 11 traffic stop in Frazer in which police confiscated heroin and drug paraphernalia, the complaint said. Pollick assisted Frazer with that stop.
The complaint said that after the officer turned on his emergency lights, the vehicle ran through a stop sign at Lincoln and Pittsburgh streets and sped toward the New Kensington Bridge with Pollick in pursuit.
The vehicle turned right after crossing the bridge and was headed toward Central City Plaza, just on the other side of the bridge, when it crashed. The woman who police said had been driving and Mautino both ran from the car.
Pollick caught up with the woman in a nearby parking lot and took her into custody.
An Allegheny Valley Police sergeant who arrived on scene used a police dog to track Mautino to a parking garage several blocks away and took him into custody.
Police said Mautino had full stamp bags of heroin and a “large sum of U.S. currency” when he was arrested. Crack pipes with residue were confiscated from the vehicle, the complaint said.
The woman was taken to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh for treatment after she began hyperventilating, according to police.
Investigators said she had a crack pipe in her pocket when she was being checked by hospital staff. Results of bloodwork done on her to determine if she was under the influence of alcohol or drugs are pending, the complaint said.
Mautino faces charges of drug delivery and possession, fleeing to avoid arrest and resisting arrest. He was being detained while awaiting a preliminary hearing before District Judge David Sosovicka.
Charges are pending against the woman, police said.
