SLIPPERY ROCK — A 40-year-old Butler man faces a hearing today on charges stemming from a Fourth of July high-speed car chase turned foot chase with state police.

Christopher R. Hartmnann has remained in the Butler County Prison on $100,000 bail since troopers found him hiding in woods shortly after he bailed out of the stolen car he was driving.

During the wild ride in which speeds topped 100 mph, police said, Hartmann drove through a gas station, forced other motorists and bystanders off the road and ran several stop signs in the 2004 Chevrolet Cavalier.

No one was injured.

The July 4th vehicular fireworks began in the late afternoon when Trooper Jason Lewis spotted the defendant arguing with a woman in the parking lot of the former Trader Horn store on Route 422.

Hartmann gave the officer a bogus name and claimed the car belonged to his girlfriend. Before Lewis could stop him, the suspect started the car and took off.

While the trooper gave chase, he learned that Hartmann was in a car reported stolen, documents said.

The pursuit over several miles came to an end when the defendant drove through a farm field before jumping out and running into the woods. Police captured him a short time later.

He is charged with felony counts of theft and receiving stolen property.

Other criminal charges include fleeing or attempting to elude police, eight counts of reckless endangerment as well as criminal mischief and false identification to law enforcement authorities.

Additionally, he is charged with 22 traffic violations, among them driving with a suspended license, driving at an unsafe speed, reckless driving and not stopping at a stop sign.

His preliminary hearing is at 1:30 p.m. today at the office of District Judge William O’Donnell in Slippery Rock.