Robert Cote

MUDDY CREEK TWP — A so-called “crash truck” proved its meaning and its worth in helping to end a high-speed motorcycle chase Tuesday night on Interstate 79, authorities said.

State police arrested Robert M. Cote, 33, of Erie following what they say was a two-mile chase during which speeds topped 100 mph, and a crash in a construction zone on the highway.

Cote is being held in Butler County Prison on felony and other charges.

Trooper Philip Treadway said he was running radar in a construction zone on I-79 in Muddy Creek Township about 9:30 p.m. when he noticed a speeding Yamaha FZ6 motorcycle, according to court documents.

The officer's radar device clocked the southbound bike going 97 mph in a posted 55 mph zone. Treadway hit his cruiser's emergency lights and siren but the defendant allegedly accelerated.

Cote took the Route 422 exit and at the end of the off-ramp, police said, he crossed over the dividing median and turned onto the I-79 south on-ramp. He is accused of running a stop sign and entering the construction zone.

While traveling south on the highway, according to a police affidavit, Cote “abruptly stopped short of hitting a semi-truck” before trying to pass the same truck using the same lane.

Without signaling, Cote subsequently changed lanes and continued traveling in the work zone until crashing into an unoccupied “crash truck.”

Treadway said a “crash truck” is specially weighted vehicle designed to absorb the impact of crashing vehicles to protect construction crews.

It can also be used to post signage and markers, such as arrows to direct traffic.

Cote, who was wearing a helmet, suffered only minor injures — primarily road rash — in the crash. A search of his wallet turned up a Suboxone strip for which he did not have a prescription.

Treadway said Cote admitted that he fled because he was on state parole.

Court records showed that his criminal history includes three felony convictions, including for conspiracy to commit trespass in Butler County, drug possession in Erie County and theft in Warren County.

District Judge Sue Haggerty on Wednesday arraigned Cote on a felony charge of fleeing or attempting to elude police and a misdemeanor charge of possession of a controlled substance.

Additionally, he is charged with 10 traffic violations.

He was placed in the county jail on $25,000 bail following arraignment. He also is being held on a parole detainer.