Borough man flees on motorcycle, tells cops he ‘thought it would be like GTA’
SHENANDOAH – A Shenandoah man is in Schuylkill County Prison after police say he led them on a chase through the west end Monday and said he “thought it would be like ‘GTA,’ if he got away, nothing would come from it.”
Thomas Christensen, 26, of 339 West Centre Street, is facing a felony charge of fleeing or eluding police along with several traffic infractions after the chase.
According to the criminal complaint filed by Patrolman Mark Hysock, he was on patrol on West Centre Street just before 1pm Monday when he saw a blue and white motorcycle jump the sidewalk on North Gilbert Street.
Christensen was later identified as the bike’s operator.
The bike, Hysock said, then began driving at a high rate of speed on the sidewalk as police turned onto Gilbert.
The bike then turned east onto West Mount Vernon Street, running the stop sign at Chestnut Street and turning onto West Street, where a stop sign is authorized but no longer present.
Hysock gave chase, turning onto Chestnut to parallel the bike, which turned west onto West Lloyd, which is an eastbound one-way.
Christensen, Hysock said, continued west to Vine Street, failing to slow down for any intersection along the way, before turning north onto Vine and east onto Washington, running each stop sign.
Hysock lost sight of the motorcycle when it turned north onto Route 924 and ascended the Heights Hill.
Tuesday morning, police were on North Gilbert Street issuing parking tickets when Christensen’s mother identified him as the operator of the motorcycle.
Christensen was promptly taken into custody and provided a written statement about the incident.
He claimed, police said, that he ran because he has a suspended license and would have to serve a mandatory 30 day prison sentence if he was caught.
He also told police that “he thought it would be like ‘GTA’ and if he got away, nothing would come of it.”
Christensen was arraigned Tuesday morning by Magisterial District Judge Anthony Kilker and committed to Schuylkill County Prison, unable to post 10% of $10,000 bail.
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