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A Hollidaysburg man faces charges after he allegedly fled police.
Ryan Jacob Harshaw, 33, was arraigned Friday before Magisterial District Judge Andrew L. Blattenberger on a felony charge of fleeing or attempting to elude an officer and misdemeanor charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Police said the incident occurred about 10:22 p.m. March 29 when a Freedom Township police officer noticed the registration plate on a red Pontiac sedan was not illuminated while the vehicle was traveling on Dunnings Highway.
The officer attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver, later identified as Harshaw, made a lane change without signaling, court documents state.
The officer then activated his emergency lights and sirens, at which time the vehicle made another lane change without signaling and headed north onto I-99, where the driver failed to yield, court documents state.
Additional units were called in to assist.
During the pursuit, officers reported that the vehicle went off the road at least once and passed two vehicles on the interstate before continuing into the city of Altoona, where visual contact was lost in the area of Walnut Avenue after the vehicle accelerated at a high rate of speed, the report states.
A short time later, Blair County 911 received a call about the vehicle, which the caller said was seen pulling behind a Walnut Avenue residence.
Police located the vehicle in an alley in that area and found Harshaw and a female loitering nearby.
Harshaw had two warrants out of Blair County for possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, and he immediately asked to speak with a lawyer when confronted by police, the report states.
During a search of Harshaw and the female, police found the woman to be in possession of two halves of two different pills, one of which was identified as buprenorphine hydrochloride, and the other was suspected to be Adderall. Officers also found a whole buprenorphine hydrochloride pill in a bag, as well as a small piece of a Suboxone tablet, court documents state.
Police called for a towing company to impound the vehicle until a search warrant could be completed.
The female stated that there could be additional controlled substances in Harshaw's backpack, which she said was in the trunk. She also told police where to find the car keys, which were not in the car when it was located, court documents state.
Police said a later search of the vehicle turned up plastic bags, a scale, smoking apparatuses, hypodermic needles, butane torches and a small amount of suspected heroin and/or fentanyl. Almost all of those items were located in a backpack in the trunk, according to reports.
Unable to post a cash bail of $50,000, Harshaw was remanded to the Blair County Prison.
He is scheduled to appear before Blattenberger for a preliminary hearing April 14.