PENN TWP — A suspected speeder pleaded his innocence after a traffic stop on Route 8.

He advised the police officer he had nothing else to say and drove away, touching off a high-speed chase through several townships, authorities said.

The suspect escaped when pursuing police deemed it too unsafe to continue.

But the earlier stop helped Penn Township officer Alyssa Mathews identify the driver — Andrew M. Augustyniak-Duncan, 23, of Carnegie, Allegheny County.

On Wednesday, police obtained an arrest warrant for him on a felony fleeing charge.

Mathews said she stopped Augustyniak-Duncan around 3:10 a.m. Feb. 13 for traveling 71 mph in a 50 mph zone on Route 8 south near Dinnerbell Road in Penn Township.

The stop occurred in the parking lot of the Golden Apple Farm & Market in Middlesex Township.

“Why am I being pulled over?” he asked the officer, according to court documents. When told he was stopped for going 71 mph, he replied, “I was only doing 55.”

Moments later, after Mathews asked for his license and registration, police said, he rolled up his window and told her, “I don't have to talk to you.”

Augustyniak-Duncan is accused of speeding off, heading south on Route 8.

Mathews ran back to her cruiser and the chase began, documents said.

The pursuit continued onto Route 228 west into Adams Township. The officer notified Adams police, who tried searching for the suspect's car, but to no avail.

Because of the freezing rain-type conditions, Mathews ended her chase for safety reasons.

Cranberry Township police later tried to stop the car on Interstate 79, but the suspect again escaped.

Augustyniak-Duncan is charged with a felony count of fleeing or attempting to elude police and a misdemeanor count of reckless endangerment.

He also was cited for several traffic violations, including driving with a suspended license, speeding, reckless driving and not carrying his driver's license.