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Cranberry police arrest man after high-speed chase

CRANBERRY TWP — It wasn't easy but police Sunday night arrested a Callery man following a suspected drug-induced, high-speed chase.

Before 21-year-old Jeffrey W. Lollo ended behind bars, he managed to get away from several Cranberry Township police officers traveling at speeds around 90 mph on Route 19 and several other roads, authorities said.

He made it all the way home but not before crashing into a street sign and a business sign.

He eventually bailed out a window at his home, prompting a foot chase with police. Officers eventually took him to the ground before slapping handcuffs on him.

District Judge Dave Kovach on Monday arraigned Lollo on a felony charge of fleeing or attempting to elude police and misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest, drugged driving and three traffic violations.

He is being held in the Butler County Prison on $50,000 bail.

Cranberry Patrolman Mike Kramer first spotted Lollo about 9:35 p.m. Sunday speeding on Route 19 northbound in a 2011 BMW sedan, police said.

Moments later at a red light at the Rochester Road intersection, the suspect revved his engine and yelled something to the driver of a car next to his, according to court documents.

When Lollo turned left onto Progress Avenue and pulled over, the officer drove behind the car and activated his emergency lights.

Kramer walked up to the BMW and spoke to the suspect, who admitted he had been smoking marijuana earlier, police said.

But when the officer asked him to step out of the car, he sped away, prompting Kramer to run back into his patrol car. The chase was on.

The pursuit continued onto Unionville Road where at one point the suspect momentarily turned off his lights. Kramer noted his cruiser was going 85 mph but he was not gaining on the BMW.

The suspect car made it back to Route 19, this time headed south, before turning west on Rochester Road, where Cranberry Patrolmen Robert Capezio and Randy Bauer joined in the chase.

Police said after the BMW raced past the Haine School Road intersection, its speed was nearing 100 mph.

Lollo subsequently pulled away from pursuing police. But in doing so, documents said, he apparently smashed a sign along Rochester Road and a wooden post and sign at the nearby Coldwell Banker real estate office.

Thinking the suspect may be headed home, where he lives with his father, Kramer contacted the Evans City-Seven Fields Regional Police for help.

An officer with the other department went to the home on Kline Avenue in Callery and found the BMW parked there. It would not be long before Cranberry officers arrived.

A short time later, they saw Lollo climb out a window in back of the house and run. Capezio fired his Taser but to no avail.

The defendant's run to freedom ultimately failed and he was captured. Later, he was taken to UPMC Passavant Cranberry for a blood test. Police said toxicology reports are pending.

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