Police in Meadville on charges of fleeing with a vehicle

Feb. 28—A 55-year-old man will stand trial on charges he stole a car from a city man earlier this month and fled from police when he was spotted the next day.

Jarrod Jones, whose address is listed in court records as Crawford County Jail, Sagertown, waived his preliminary hearing Friday in two cases before Magisterial District Judge Samuel Pendolino.

In the first case, Jones was at a residence in the 300 block of Poplar Street in the early morning hours of February 8 and took a pair of jeans containing $90 and a car key from a 73-year-old resident. , according to the probable cause affidavit filed by the Meadville Police Department in the case. Jones then allegedly used the key to take a 2017 Dodge Challenger located outside the residence.

City police received a report of the vehicle being seen near the intersection of Mulberry and West Steers streets at 1:21 a.m. on Feb. 9 and allegedly followed it when a man exited a nearby residence and got into the vehicle, according to an affidavit filed in a second case against Jones.

Moments later when a traffic stop was attempted, the Challenger accelerated to a high rate of speed and continued south on Market Street to Poplar Street, then east on Chancery Lane, according to police. The driver soon stopped the vehicle near the intersection of Chancery and Pine Alley, when both the driver and a female passenger began to flee on foot.

When the pursuing officer yelled for both men to stop, the passenger stopped and soon identified the driver as Jones, police said.

The three misdemeanor charges filed against Jones in the first case include two counts of theft by unlawful taking and one count of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. In the second case, Jones faces felony counts of receiving stolen property, felony counts of recklessly endangering another person and fleeing an officer, and four summary traffic charges.

Jones remains in jail in lieu of $10,000 bond in the first case and $15,000 bond in the second case. The trial is scheduled for the June term of Crawford County Court of Common Pleas.

Mike Crowley can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email [email protected].