A Clairton man is in jail after state police say he fled a traffic stop Tuesday in Mt. Pleasant Township.
A state trooper was on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Hempfield shortly after noon Tuesday when a Jeep Grand Cherokee with nearly opaque tinted windows drove past. The trooper performed a traffic stop and identified the driver as Joshua J. Bristo, 34, of Clairton, according to court records.
Bristo is on federal parole stemming from a weapons charge, state police said.
The trooper said he could smell the odor of marijuana coming from Bristo’s SUV and asked him to come back to the patrol vehicle. When the trooper requested permission to search the vehicle, Bristo ran back to his SUV, jumped in and fled east on the turnpike, according to a criminal complaint.
Bristo weaved recklessly in and out of traffic, topping 100 mph several times during the roughly 20-mile chase, police said.
Bristo exited the turnpike at Donegal, leading police up routes 31 and 819 back toward South Greensburg, where he was apprehended near Huff Avenue and Spruce Street.
Bristo was charged with fleeing police. He was denied bail and taken to the Westmoreland County Prison.
An Oct. 2 preliminary hearing is set.
