PD: Fleeing Ashland woman strikes police cruiser; firearms thrown from vehicle
Passenger facing two dozen gun, conspiracy charges
SUBMITTED PHOTO - Damage to an Ashland Police cruiser is seen Friday after a pursuit.
ASHLAND – Two people are in Schuylkill County Prison after a federal investigation resulted in a police pursuit in which the fleeing suspects struck an Ashland police car and tossed two firearms into the Mahanoy Creek.
According to court documents, Ashland Police were assisting federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) on a firearms and narcotics investigation around 11am Friday. Chief Gerard Daley was to stop the suspect using his marked Ashland Police vehicle when they left a home in the 600 block of West Centre Street.
The suspects — driver Sade Hill, 26, of 203 Walnut Street, and passenger Torre Ervin, 33, of Ashland– left in a gray Chrysler Town and Country minivan.
Daley pulled out from North 6th Street and activated his lights and sirens, pulling across Centre Street to block Hill from fleeing.
Hill instead struck the police car, causing heavy damage, before fleeing at a high rate of speed down Centre Street, onto Hoffman Boulevard, and out of town. Daley was not injured, but the patrol car had to be towed.
The chase ended on Beaver Dam Road when the van stopped and both occupants surrendered.
Hill is facing felony charges of fleeing or attempting to elude police and aggravated assault along with misdemeanor reckless endangerment. She was arraigned by on-call Magisterial District Judge Stephen Bayer and committed to Schuylkill County Prison, unable to post $50,000 bail.
Ervin is also in Schuylkill County Prison, facing a host of charges filed by the Office of the Attorney General. Charges include felony false statement to purchase a firearm, six counts of felony conspiracy to make a false statement to purchase a firearm, felony possession of a firearm prohibited, felony conspiracy to commit criminal use of a communication facility, among several misdemeanor conspiracy charges.
Details on those charges were not immediately available Friday afternoon, nor were details on the federal authorities involvement in the investigation.
Ervin was also arraigned by Bayer and committed to Schuylkill County Prison, unable to post $500,000 bail.
During Friday’s pursuit, two handguns were tossed by the suspects into the Mahanoy Creek near Red White and Blue Autos on Hoffman Boulevard in Ashland.
A dive team from Mahanoy City waded through the orange waters of the creek to find those two handguns. Those divers were accompanied by law enforcement from the ATF, Pennsylvania State Police, DCNR, and Frackville.
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