Man charged with leading police on 115 mph pursuit on Route 22
Dec 08, 2012 (The Morning Call (Menafn - Allentown - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --A 23-year-old man led state police on a 115-mile-an-hour pursuit that began in South Whitehall Township early Wednesday and then drove on sidewalks in Slatington before running away from troopers after crashing his car, according to court records.
Brady W. Gruver, of Allentown, was arrested two days later, done in partly by his love for his Volkswagen Jetta and an open Facebook page, state police at Fogelsville said.
Troopers had to ram Gruver's car to end the chase in the 1100 block of Main Street in Slatington, police said. Gruver got out of the crashed car and troopers chased him on foot, but he got away, police said.
Police returned to the crashed Jetta and insurance papers and a pay stub belonging to Gruver, police said. The trooper investigating the pursuit looked up Gruver's name on Facebook and found his page, which was open and viewable to the public.
Gruver used a photo of his Jetta as his cover picture, and he had photos of himself and his car posted in several Facebook albums, police said.
Gruver, of 120 N. 11th St., was arraigned Friday by District Judge Rod Beck and sent to Lehigh County Prison under 75,000 bail.
He is charged with fleeing or attempting to elude police, reckless endangerment and 44 summary traffic violations, including reckless driving, careless driving, driving at unsafe speeds, running red lights, running stop signs and not signaling for lane changes.
According to a criminal complaint:
State police first attempted to stop Gruver at 12:50 a.m. on eastbound Route 22, near Route 309, in South Whitehall because the car's registration had been suspended because of insurance cancellation.
After a trooper activated his emergency lights and sirens, Gruver accelerated eastbound, going as fast as 115 miles per hour in a 55 mph zone. Gruver got off the 15th Street exit, ran stop signs and traffic lights in that area, before heading down Route 329 and then Route 873 in Slatington.
In Slatington, Gruver drove onto a sidewalk, and a state trooper used his cruiser to ram his car. Gruver lost control of his car, crashed into a metal fence and fled on foot. Gruver called a friend for a ride, but the friend told police he did not pick him up after realizing what had happened.
According to court records, Gruver has been cited more than 30 times since 2008 on a number of traffic violations, including speeding, driving without insurance and driving on a suspended license.
___ (c)2012 The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.) Visit The Morning Call
(Allentown, Pa.) at www.mcall.com Distributed by MCT Information Services
Copyright (C) 2012, The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.)
