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MANSFIELD – Troopers from the Mansfield Post arrested Jeremy A. Reynolds, 31, Mount Gilead, after he led troopers on a multi-county pursuit. During the incident, Reynolds was involved in a standoff, stole a Patrol cruiser and carjacked another vehicle during the pursuit.
At 1:09 p.m., troopers from the Mansfield Post were attempting to catch up to a suspected stolen vehicle that pulled out of the westbound rest area on US-30 near Interstate 71 in Richland County. As troopers began to catch up to the vehicle on Reed Rd., it began to drive recklessly and a traffic stop was attempted. The vehicle failed to stop and a pursuit ensued. The pursuit continued eastbound on US-30, exited at state Route 309 and drove through numerous roads where he struck multiple vehicles. The damage from those crashes caused the fleeing vehicle to become disabled in the yard of a residence on Millsboro Rd. between Lexington-Springmill Rd. and Lexington-Ontario Rd.
After the vehicle became disabled, Reynolds refused to comply with verbal commands to exit his vehicle from troopers, Richland County Sheriff’s Office deputies and Ontario Police Department officers. After approximately 10 minutes of refusing to exit the vehicle, the female passenger screamed and a suspected gun shot was heard. For approximately the next 30 minutes, Reynolds continued to refuse the orders from officers to exit the vehicle. The vehicle was smoking heavily, caught fire and Reynolds exited with the passenger and moved westbound toward an Ohio State Highway Patrol cruiser when shots were fired by law enforcement on scene. Reynolds and the female passenger then fled in the patrol car that already had its overhead emergency lights activated.
Reynolds fled eastbound on Millsboro Rd. and other connecting roads until re-entering US-30 eastbound. Reynolds stopped the patrol car on the shoulder of US-30 near township Road 1255 and carjacked a minivan, leaving the minivan’s driver and passenger at the scene. He also left the initial female passenger at the scene and continued to flee. The pursuit ended on state Route 511, south of county Road 30A when troopers made intentional contact with the minivan, where Reynolds was taken into custody.
Reynolds and the initial female passenger were taken to a local hospital to be treated for non-life threatening injuries. Reynolds has since been incarcerated at the Richland County Jail. The driver of the minivan was taken to an area hospital for minor injuries. No officers were injured during this incident.