PIKE COUNTY MAN LEADS AND OUTRUNS POLICE/SAME VEHICLE LATER IN A DANGEROUS NIGHT TIME PURSUIT

OFFICERS CATCH UP TO THE SUSPECT LATER ON A THE HOME OF A RELATIVE, DOES NOT GO QUIETLY DURING RESISTING OF HIS ARREST

FEBRUARY 13, 2020 – written by WADE QUEEN

HE SUCCESSFULLY OUTRAN THE COPS, BUT HIS RUNING GOT GROUNDED WHEN POLICE CAUGHT UP WITH HIM AT A RELATIVE’S HOUSE WHERE HE WAS HIDING.

A Pike County man is facing more than a dozen criminal offenses, including several felony charges after allegedly fleeing from Pikeville Police at speeds over 90 miles per hour during a lengthy chase which officers had to stop their pursuit due to safety hazards of the dangerous chase, endangering the lives of drivers in the course of the chase..

According to Pike County Court documents, John Paul Charles, 57, of Williams Hollow Road, in Pikeville, was arrested early Monday morning February 10.

According to the court documents, on Sunday evening, February 9, Pikeville Police Department officer Austin Kranzman, just before 10 P.M., observed John Charles driving a Dodge Caravan in the parking lot of the Double Kwik on Bypass Road in Pikeville.

Upon a database search, the court document said, Austin Kranzman found that John Charles’ license was suspended on November 3, 2019, and the vehicle Charles was driving had an illegible temporary tag, which was found to belong to a Toyota passenger car. Austin Kranzman wrote that he attempted to do a traffic stop on the vehicle, but John Charles’ vehicle began accelerating and the vehicle showed no signs of stopping.

Officer Kranzman wrote that, during the pursuit, Charles’ vehicle reached speeds exceeding 90 mph and he drove into the oncoming lane of traffic on “numerous occasions, at times driving exclusively in the oncoming lane for extended periods of time.”

Court documents stated John Charles nearly struck several oncoming vehicles in the opposite lane of travel while he drove his vehicle in the wrong lane during the chase. Court documents allege that John Charles drove in the opposite lane for long distances during the chase.

Charles, the court document said, nearly impacted several vehicles in the oncoming lane several times, and officer Kranzman and other police units who had joined the chase, broke off the pursuit due to, “severe risk of injury or death” John Charles’ actions were posing due to the danger to the public.

Just after midnight, officer Kranzman wrote that he received information that John Charles had fled to a family member’s residence on Ky. 194 East. Kranzman and other officers, the court document report said, drove to the residence and identified the vehicle John Charles had been driving was parked beside the residence.

A family member, the court document said, told the officers John Charles was inside and told the officers to “come get him.” Upon entering the residence, the report said, Officer Kranzman saw John Charles, who appeared intoxicated, walk out of a back room with his hands in his pockets, prompting the officer to order Charles to take his hands out of his pockets.

John Charles refused, the court document said, and officer Kranzman used force to take John Charles to the ground and eventually placed John Charles under arrest, despite his resistance. John Charles, the court document said, was transported to the emergency room of Pikeville Medical Center, where he refused to speak with an attorney and refused to submit to a blood test.

John Charles, the court documents said, also threatened officer Austin Kranzman for arresting him with physical force, while they were at the hospital.

“John Charles stated that the next time I see him that he will ‘have a gun and this will go down differently,’ stating that he will attempt to kill me,” officer Kranzman wrote.

John Paul Charles was charged with a total of 16 charges counts, 14 of which were related to the wild chase. Those charges John Charles is facing with are:

• FAILURE TO PRODUCE INSURANCE CARD, • FAILURE OF NON-OWNER OPERATOR TO MAINTAIN REQUIRED INSURANCE/SECURITY, 1ST OFFENSE,• FAILURE TO REGISTER TRANSFER OF MOTOR VEHICLE, • FAILURE TO WEAR SEAT BELTS, • DISPLAY OF ILLEGAL/ALTERED REGISTRATION PLATE, • FLEEING OR EVADING POLICE, 1ST DEGREE, • WANTON ENDANGERMENT-1ST DEGREE, • RECKLESS DRIVING, • OPERATING MOTOR VEHICLE UNDER/INFLUENCE ALCOHOL/DRUGS/ETC. .08 (AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCES) 3RD OFFENSE, • OPERATING ON SUSPENDED OR REVOKED OPERATORS LICENSE, • RESISTING ARREST, • TERRORISTIC THREATENING, 3RD DEGREE, • NO REGISTRATION PLATES, • NO REGISTRATION RECEIPT. John Charles was also charged with two separate counts of: • CONTEMPT OF COURT LIBEL/ SLANDER RESISTANCE TO ORDER.

John Charles was lodged in the Pike County Detention Center, and Charles pleaded not guilty to the charges Monday before Pike County District Court Judge Robert Wright, who ordered John Charles held on a $2,000 cash bond.