A man who walked away from a state mental hospital and his companion were arrested late last night after leading police from several jurisdictions on a high-speed pursuit that covered nearly 40 miles and included three counties and Baltimore City.
No injuries were reported and none of the dozen police cars involved in the chase, which saw speeds in excess of 100 miles-per-hour, were damaged, although the driver of the pursued vehicle attempted to ram police cars before the pursuit ended in East Baltimore.
Trooper First Class Dennis Deal of the state police Golden Ring Barracks said Marshall Allan Press, 37, who walked away from the Spring Grove State Hospital in Catonsville Monday, picked up a friend, Erick Quinton Ward, 36, of no permanent address, sometime later and was spotted by Howard County police driving a Chevrolet van.
Following a brief pursuit, Howard County police broke off around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday and notified the state police.
On the Baltimore Beltway, Trooper Deal said, the van was spotted by state police, who pursued it to northbound I-95 and into Harford County.
Within minutes, a state police helicopter from Andrews Air Force Base took to the air and monitored the entire pursuit while broadcasting the van's movements to pursuing police and police awaiting the van's arrival in other areas.
"We had the van under absolute surveillance all the times," said Trooper Deal.
With at least a half-dozen police cars following it at high speed in Harford County, the van entered Abingdon, went through Edgewood and then turned around and headed west on U.S. 40 toward Baltimore City.
In Baltimore County, county police joined the pursuit.
"There were times when the van was exceeding 100 miles-per-hour," said Trooper Deal, "and fortunately late-hour traffic was light."
During the pursuit, the van's driver attempted to ram several police cars but failed to strike them.
As the pursuit neared Baltimore, city police set up a roadblock at Pulaski Highway (U.S. 40) at North Haven Street.
Around 11:15 p.m., the van, which was registered to Mr. Press, stopped at the roadblock and its occupants were arrested without incident.
In the van, police found syringes and other drug paraphernalia.
Mr. Press and Mr. Ward were turned over to the state police and taken to the Golden Ring Barracks, where Mr. Press was charged with multiple offenses, including assault with a motor vehicle to avoid arrest, eluding, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Mr. Ward was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.
Both men were to appear at a bail hearing.