A Schuylkill County man was taken into custody Tuesday afternoon after police say he fled from an attempted traffic stop and led police on a foot pursuit over a stream and under a tractor-trailer in a junkyard.
Police in Shenandoah say they were conducting routine traffic enforcement near the 400 block of E. Centre St. shortly after 2:30 p.m. on March 10 when they saw a dark-colored Nissan traveling westbound. The driver, identified by police as Shawn Jessman, 33, of Ringtown, turned onto the unit block of N. Bridge St. and immediately parked the vehicle.
A records check revealed Jessman had an active bench warrant from the Schuylkill County District Attorney’s Office for failure to appear in court, police say. Jessman has nearly a handful of active criminal cases right now.
When police activated their emergency lights to initiate a stop, Jessman immediately exited his vehicle. Police say they instructed Jessman to return to his vehicle, but he instead began running west on E. Mount Vernon St. and police followed/
During the foot pursuit, police say Jessman turned south, running through a local car wash and crossing E. Centre and E. New York streets. Jessman then allegedly jumped into a stream before reaching Herald Rd. Once Jessman crossed the stream, police say they deployed a Taser but didn’t hit him.
The chase continued onto a local residential property, where police allege Jessman caused damage to a gate. Multiple police established a perimeter near a junkyard on Herald Rd., where they say they found Jessman hiding under an abandoned tractor-trailer.
Jessman was taken into custody and released to Schuylkill County Prison. Further investigation by police revealed that the registration on Jessman’s vehicle had expired on Dec. 31 and was suspended due to an insurance cancellation on Feb. 27.
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