RUNNIN FROM THESE GUYS...

…EH, NOT SUCH A GOOD IDEA!

Carlisle Township – Tara and Joe Taylor were heading home to Elyria after spending the day in Wellington Saturday afternoon having lunch with their family when they witnessed a car crash into a stretch of guardrail right in front of them. The surprises continued for the Taylor’s as the man fled the scene on foot.

“We were traveling south on Diagonal Road when this guy coming towards us went off the road and struck the guardrail. Then the car started spinning and that is when I started freaking out.” The Taylor’s jumped out of their truck and went to see if they could help the man, but when they got to his car and asked if he was ok they were shocked by what happened next. “I asked if he was ok and right away he started telling us to give him a ride because he had been drinking. I asked him if he needed a cell phone to call somebody and he said no, just give me a ride I need to get out of here I’ve been drinking.” Once the man realized that nobody was going to hook him up with a get-a-way car he fled on foot into the woods.

Trooper Christopher Ausse of the Ohio State Highway Patrol said that as they were responding to the crash they received word that the driver had taken off into the woods. “Once we arrived we gave chase on foot into the Wild Life Preservation and after about 15 to 20 minutes we were able to apprehend the suspect and return him to the crash scene.”

Deputies from the Lorain County Sheriff’s Department and Rangers from the Metro Parks assisted troopers in the search. Once they apprehended the suspect he was loaded into the bed of a Ranger’s truck and brought back to the crash site.

Troopers identify the driver a Michael J. Kaminski. Kaminski refused any treatment by LifeCare Ambulance Paramedics and was taken to the State Patrol Post where he was charged with “Operating a Vehicle while Intoxicated and Driving Under Suspension.”

When asked why Kaminski would flee the scene like that Trooper Ausse stated that it might have something to do with the fact that this marks Kaminski’s 6th DUI arrest, making this a felony charge. Troopers discovered open beer bottles and some unopened beer bottled in the back seat of Kaminski’s car.

Firefighters from the Carlisle Township Fire Department had to use a saw to cut the guardrail out of the front of Kaminski’s car.

Trooper Ausse said that this is the third foot chase that he has been involved in within the last three days. “On Thursday I had one at Route 511 and Oberlin-Elyria Road where a driver rear-ended another vehicle then ran northbound on 511. That chase also took about 20 minutes to apprehend him. Then on Friday on LaGrange Road by the Church a van crashed, hit the driveway and went air born and ended up in a ditch. That took about 30 minutes to catch him running through the woods, mud and snow.” In all three cases the drivers had previous DUI arrests.

Kaminski will be charged additionally with Resisting Arrest because during the chase the Troopers told him to stop and that he was under arrest but he continued to run.


To see more photos from the crash scene: CLICK HERE