A Westmoreland City man is accused of leading state police on a chase Monday that reached 110 mph, at one point going the wrong way on Route 30, according to court papers.
Ricardo S. Monteparte, 57, did not have a valid drivers license, police said.
Troopers reported seeing a Jeep Liberty with a burned out registration light around 2:30 a.m. on Harrison City Export Road in Manor. When a trooper made a traffic stop, the SUV driver briefly stopped at a gas station but then took off through residential neighborhoods in Penn Borough and Irwin at 80 mph.
Troopers tried to stop the SUV near 10th Street and Route 30 in North Huntingdon but were unsuccessful, and the driver traveled east on Route 30 into Hempfield at 110 mph, according to court papers. The driver took the Mt. Pleasant Road exit, but then got back onto the eastbound highway, police said.
At some point, the driver began traveling west in the eastbound lanes at 110 mph and troopers stationed at the Route 119 exit used spike strips, but the SUV continued on, weaving in and out of traffic, according to court papers.
The pursuit ended after a trooper successfully did a PIT maneuver, in which an officer uses their vehicle to push the fleeing vehicle sideways, near North Greengate Road. Monteparte was taken into custody and troopers said he was under the influence of alcohol and marijuana, according to court papers.
His drivers license was suspended because of a past DUI conviction, police said. He is facing nearly 60 counts, including fleeing from police and reckless endangerment.
Monteparte was being held at the Westmoreland County Prison on $25,000 bail. He did not have an attorney listed in online court records. A Sept. 26 preliminary hearing is set.
