YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — A man who reports said led police late Wednesday afternoon on three separate charges is in the Mahoning County jail.
Nathaniel Cheatham, 34, was booked into jail on three counts of failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer and several traffic offenses. He is expected to be arraigned Friday in municipal court.
Reports said officers on patrol spotted an SUV driven by Cheatham about 5:15 p.m. driving north on Oak Hill Avenue going very fast. When police tried to pull the SUV over, Cheatham accelerated and led them to Glenwood Avenue, weaving in and out of traffic and passing other cars as they did.
At Glenwood Avenue and Canfield Road, Cheatham cut through a parking lot to Canfield Road, reports said. Police stopped the chase because they lost sight of the vehicle, reports said.
Another officer found the SUV a few moments later while checking out reports of a vehicle in the area that was struck. That officer tried to pull Cheatham over but he failed to stop. That pursuit was stopped because the SUV was heading towards downtown, reports said.
The same officer spotted the SUV a few minutes later and tried to pull it over, but Cheatham drove away and the chase was called off again, reports said.
Police found the SUV in the 500 block of Lakewood Avenue and saw Cheatham get out and go to a nearby home, reports said. Reports said officers asked the homeowner if they could speak to him, and he came out a few minutes later and admitted to leading police on a chase, reports said.
Reports said Cheatham told police he didn’t stop because he was afraid.