Police say a Schuylkill County man who led an officer on a high-speed motorcycle pursuit through Orwigsburg earlier this month was apprehended after he hid the bike in a storage locker and fled in a beat-up minivan with a plywood window.
When questioned by police during a subsequent traffic stop, Seamus McNicholl, 26, of Coaldale, admitted to operating the motorcycle and fleeing from the officer, police say. McNicholl told police he ran because the motorcycle lacked a license plate, his driver’s license was suspended, and he “got scared,” police say.
The incident began shortly before 4:30 p.m. on March 2 when an Orwigsburg police officer on patrol observed a black motorcycle traveling south on N. Washington St. without a registration plate. After both vehicles stopped in traffic at the intersection of N. Washington and E. Market streets, the motorcycle turned east, police say.
The officer says he activated his emergency lights and a siren to initiate a traffic stop, but McNicholl failed to stop and increased his speed.
During the pursuit, the motorcyclist passed multiple vehicles in the oncoming lane along E. Market St. and Brick Hill Rd., police say. The rider then drove on a painted shoulder, ran a red light at its intersection with Route 61, and fled north on the highway at a high rate of speed, police say.
After the officer returned to the police station, a witness reported seeing the motorcyclist put the bike into a shed at Sunrise Storage. The witness reportedly told police the rider was then picked up by a female driving a “red beat up minivan.”
Police immediately returned to the area and spotted an older-model red Mercury minivan stopped at a traffic light. Police say they boxed the vehicle in to initiate a traffic stop. The minivan featured faded and chipped paint, a split rear wiper, and a rear driver’s side window covered with plywood and duct tape, police say.
Inside the van, police found a female driver and McNicholl in the passenger seat. A records check later confirmed McNicholl’s driver’s license is suspended.
McNicholl has been charged with a felony count of fleeing police and numerous traffic citations. He was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Edward Tarantelli and released on $15,000 unsecured bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 21 in Orwigsburg.
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