Motorist charged with fleeing police
A Zelienople man was arrested early Tuesday morning after he allegedly led Butler police on a chase.
Darren R. Halli, 40, was arraigned on felony fleeing and other charges, and placed in the Butler County Prison.
Police said a patrolman was traveling on Third Avenue just after midnight when he noticed a car going the wrong way and coming “directly towards” the officer's vehicle.
The suspect's Lexus sedan backed up into the traffic lane, police said, before it proceeded east on West Cunningham Street.
The officer got behind the car and activated his emergency lights. The suspect turned onto Pillow Street and then headed the wrong way on Second Avenue, according to court documents.
It appeared the driver was looking for a spot to pull over, police said, but then he “turned sharply” back into traffic. The patrolman activated his siren, but the suspect did not stop and continued traveling through intersections, including a red light at South Washington and South Main streets.
Police said the driver at one point nearly caused a collision with other vehicles — headed in both directions — on Main Street. The suspect ran two more red lights at the intersection at Main and South McKean streets and at South Monroe Street and Center Avenue, in between running a stop sign at East Cunningham and South Monroe streets.
Police said the driver failed to stop at two more stop signs before police came upon the Lexus, which was apparently parked on Brown Avenue. But the driver was gone.
The officer recognized a passenger in the car, a woman, police said. She identified the driver as Halli, her husband, according to court documents. She advised that he “fled,” police said.
She was unable to say why the defendant did not stop for the officer.
Police found Halli at a home on Zeigler Avenue.
He was arraigned on a felony count of fleeing or attempting to elude police and a misdemeanor count of reckless endangerment. Police also cited him for driving without a license, driving the wrong way on a one-way road and reckless driving.
He is in the county prison on $15,000 bail.
