The incident began at 3:24 a.m. when a child called 9-1-1 to report a domestic violence incident on Cedar Creek Road.
“The caller was a juvenile that was screaming hysterically,” said Champaign County Sheriff’s Capt. David Rapp. When the dispatcher called back, deputies said a woman alleged Zachary R. Titus had struck her and then fled in his 1993 maroon Ford Ranger.
Deputies responding to the address allegedly spotted Titus driving the truck and attempted to pull him over near the intersection of West County Line Road.
The suspect reportedly sped off and traveled southbound from the intersection toward Interstate 70 in Clark County. There multiple jurisdictions joined in the pursuit, according to reports. The vehicle fled westbound on I-70 for about 20 miles before entering northbound Interstate 75, reports indicated.
Police in Huber Heights and Vandalia attempted to stop the vehicle with stop sticks, but were unsuccessful.
State troopers and sheriff’s deputies chased the vehicle north on I-75, deputies said, and the suspect briefly exited the highway in Troy then got back on the interstate.
During that portion of the pursuit an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper and a Troy police officer crashed their cruisers into each other at the intersection of West Race Street and Lincoln Avenue.
Both cruisers involved in the crash sustained extensive damage.
Officers eventually stopped the vehicle using stop sticks north of Troy on I-75, where they took Titus into custody about 4:50 a.m.
The chase reportedly reached speeds in excess of 100 mph.
Titus was booked into the Tri-County Jail and faces charges of failure to comply with the order or signal of an officer, a third degree felony. Rapp said more charges could be added as the investigation continues.
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