Police officer nearly struck by car, short chase ensues
By JEFF STITT
jstitt@yourmvi.com
A Donora man has been charged after allegedly attempting to run a police officer over with his car as the officer attempted to find out if he was in possession of marijuana.
Donora officer Joshua Haines wrote in an affidavit of probable cause that he and his partner, who was not named in court records, were on patrol Saturday when they stopped at Uni-Mart on Meldon Avenue.
Haines walked past an unoccupied Ford Edge in the parking lot while making his way into the store and allegedly observed the smell of marijuana emanating from it.
Once in the store, Haines walked past a man, later identified as Blair Daniel Laroyal Tartt, 28, of Second Street, who allegedly smelled like marijuana.
Haines wrote that Tartt “abruptly” left the store after seeing him and got into the Ford Edge, which prompted Haines to leave the store and command Tartt to stop.
Tartt allegedly “rapidly reversed” the car onto the sidewalk “almost impacting the business,” court records state.
To read the rest of this story, please see a copy of Tuesday’s Mon Valley Independent, call 724-314-0035 to subscribe or subscribe to our online edition at https://e.monvalleyindependent.com.
