A 35-year-old Schuylkill Haven man faces dozens of charges after police say he stole firearms, fired a shot at a passing vehicle, administered Narcan to himself after crashing, and led officers on a motorcycle chase that ended with an emergency rescue from a cliffside on the Fourth of July.
Zachary Shaw, 35, of Schuylkill Haven, is being held at Schuylkill County Prison on 10% of $75,000 bail facing felony counts of burglary, firearms possession prohibited, theft, and fleeing or attempting to elude an officer, alongside misdemeanor counts of recklessly endangering another person, propelling a missile into an occupied vehicle, driving under the influence, criminal mischief, and drug offenses.
Police say the incident began shortly before 4:30 p.m. when police responded to a reported disturbance on Rock Rd. in Washington Township. Witnesses told police that a man had been firing a handgun in the woods. At the scene, police discovered a parked vehicle with a broken window and a bullet hole in the door.
Witnesses also reported seeing the same man – later identified as Shaw – crash a motorcycle on Hidden View Rd., where they observed him administering Narcan to himself before fleeing on the motorcycle. Police received another report of Shaw causing a disturbance at a business on Fair Rd. in Wayne Township before traveling north on Route 183.
Police located Shaw on a motorcycle and initiated a traffic stop in a parking lot in Cressona. Police say Shaw started yelling an address at police and then fled the stop. A vehicle pursuit ensued, during which police say Shaw committed multiple traffic violations while driving under the influence of a combination of drugs. The pursuit ended when Shaw crashed his motorcycle at a dead end on Hotel St. in Pottsville, attempted to flee on foot, and fell down a steep incline, where emergency personnel rescued him from a cliffside.
While receiving treatment at a hospital, Shaw spoke with police and said that his actions began earlier that morning when he became paranoid that his family was in danger. He reportedly told police he drove his motorcycle to Pine Grove, where he obtained drugs and administered them to himself intravenously, which made him vomit.
Shaw further told police that he drove to a property on Moyers Station Rd. in Wayne Township, where he entered an unlocked detached garage without permission. Inside, he said he stole a rifle and a 9mm pistol. He said that an unknown person in a pickup truck confronted him outside, and he relinquished one of the firearms to that individual.
According to police, the man then fled to Rock Rd., where he used the stolen pistol to shoot out a vehicle window to look inside the trunk for clues about his family. Shaw told police he then chased a passing vehicle that he found suspicious. Police say Shaw fired a shot at the vehicle during the chase.
Shaw said that he crashed his motorcycle again during the chase and administered Narcan to himself. He told police he then went to a bar on Fair Rd., where he tried to give the pistol to the owner, who refused to take it.
He then told police multiple times that he was legally prohibited from possessing firearms, which police verified through a criminal history check. Following his arrest, police searched Shaw’s belongings and seized suspected methamphetamine, THC containers, glass smoking devices, syringes, a digital scale, and packaging materials.
A preliminary hearing in this case is scheduled for July 16 before Magisterial District Judge James Reiley.
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