An active manhunt is underway just outside Chillicothe in Ross County.
It happened Sunday evening at around 5:30 p.m. after a chase started just before 5 o’clock.
It started on Route 41 near Bainbridge and was headed into Greenfield before the unknown driver turned onto Route 28. That’s when the chase reached more than 80 miles per hour and started heading into Chillicothe.
A city police officer laid down spoke strips on Western Avenue and managed to flatten some of the tires on the fleeing car.
Despite the tires running out of air, the pursuit continued at high speeds through downtown Chillicothe on Main Street before the driver drove onto Route 23 northbound. Once on the highway, the suspect started driving in the wrong lane in the opposite direction. Troopers said they saw the driver intentionally trying to ram oncoming cars. The highway patrol gave their men and women the “okay” to kamikaze the car head-on to prevent injury to anyone else after numerous P.I.T. maneuvers were not successful.
The car swiped a Chillicothe police cruiser, which ended up disabling the cop car. The officer was not injured.
Before troopers could slam into the car it exited onto Route 207 and then, River Road.
The suspect fled at a small business that sells sheds known as Shed Yard on River Road.
Troopers, deputies, and officers established a perimeter in the area of Hopetown Park along River Road at Bridge Street. The train tracks in the area were shutdown to all train traffic while a K-9 searches the area.
Gunshot were heard in the area, but law enforcement officers did not report firing their guns or being injured.
The highway patrol initially called for a helicopter but the chopper could not fly. That changed and the patrol sent aerial support.
The suspect’s name and description has not been released.
The search was suspended around 8:15 p.m.
