A Washington C.H. man is in custody following a high-speed pursuit Friday that began with a reported stolen vehicle and ended with the suspect jumping out of the vehicle and being treated for a drug overdose.
Corey M. Keeton, 27, is being held in the Fayette County Jail on felony charges of fleeing and eluding, possession of drugs, tampering with evidence, failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer, receiving stolen property, as well as several misdemeanors and warrants for his arrest.
While on patrol in the early morning hours Friday, Washington Court House Police Department Patrolman Jason Copas observed a small red SUV — which matched the description of a stolen vehicle — pull into the Marathon gas station on Columbus Avenue. As Copas drove past the gas station in an attempt to verify if this was the stolen vehicle, the suspect vehicle pulled up in front of the doors of the business and then backed out, according to reports.
The vehicle then began heading west out of the gas station parking lot, made a right turn onto Wilson Street and proceeded to head northbound. As Copas turned onto Wilson Street, police dispatch advised that a call had been made from an individual who said she saw the stolen vehicle pull into the Marathon gas station.
“I then advised dispatch that I also saw the vehicle and that I was now in pursuit with it heading north on Wilson Street,” Copas wrote in his report. “As I continued to travel north on Wilson Street, I observed the stolen vehicle fail to stop for the stop signs at the intersection of Wilson Street and Temple Street, Wilson Street and Paint Street, Wilson Street and Rawlings Street and Wilson Street and Gregg Street, all at a very high rate of speed.”
The pursuit continued onto Brown Street, State Route 38 and Lewis Road as it reached speeds of over 110 miles per hour.
“As we approached the intersection of Lewis Rd and Bloomingburg New Holland Rd, the vehicle failed to stop or slow for the stop sign at that intersection and proceeded northwest on Lewis Rd.,” Copas wrote. “As the pursuit continued on Lewis Rd at high rates of speed, the vehicle came up to the intersection of Lewis Rd and Dill Rd where the vehicle made a left turn onto Dill Rd before coming up to the intersection of Dill Rd and Hays Rd, and I could tell the vehicle was slowing down but still not stopping.”
As the vehicle made it to the Dill/Hays Road intersection, it came to a very slow speed — almost coasting — and then stopped on the left side of the roadway at the intersection, according to police. Copas parked his cruiser behind the vehicle a good distance away. Copas wrote in his report that he knew the driver was possibly going to be identified as Keeton, who had allegedly made statements earlier in the day that he was in possession of a gun and “wanted to die suicide by cop.”
After another officer arrived at the scene, the officers approached the vehicle and ordered the driver to come out. As they got closer, the passenger side door opened and a man later identified as Dalton Trisdale exited with his hands in the air, according to reports. Once officers detained Trisdale, Copas confirmed there was no one else inside the vehicle.
Trisdale agreed to speak with police after he was read his rights, and he said he was not the one driving the vehicle.
“Dalton went on to say that right after they went around the last curve on Dill Rd the driver jumped out of the vehicle, which is why no one was driving it when it stopped,” Copas wrote. “I asked Dalton if he knew who the driver was, and he advised the only name he knew was his street name, which was ‘Quartez.’ I then asked Dalton if the driver was Corey Keeton, and he advised he didn’t know his real name.”
Another officer showed Trisdale a picture of Keeton, and Trisdale confirmed him as the driver.
Officers from the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office and Ohio State Highway Patrol arrived in the area and set up a perimeter to help locate Keeton. The search found Keeton lying in a nearby field and he was reportedly unresponsive.
Keeton was treated for an apparent drug overdose and was given several doses of Narcan. He became “somewhat responsive,” according to reports, and Fayette County Life Squad responded to the scene to take him to Fayette County Memorial Hospital.
Once he was treated and released, Keeton was placed under arrest and taken to the Fayette County Jail, where he is being held on a $22,800 bond. The stolen vehicle was towed from the scene and taken to the Washington Police Department.
Reach Record-Herald Editor Ryan Carter at 740-313-0352.
