JEANNETTE, Pa. -- A man is being held in the Westmoreland County Prison after Jeannette police said he led them on a high-speed chase that injured three officers before it ended in North Huntingdon early Friday morning.
Channel 4 Action News' Jennifer Miele spoke to Jeannette Police Chief Jeff Stahl, who said the suspect, Ralph Anderson, 34, attempted to steal something from a woman's car at Franco's Bar in Jeannette around 2 a.m.
Police said that when the woman confronted Anderson, he began choking her, until the woman's boyfriend intervened. Police said Anderson then left the scene, but the victim was able to get his license plate number.
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Watch Jennifer Miele's ReportPolice said Anderson, who was serving a 20-year-probation sentence he was given in Virginia for drug and theft convictions, refused to stop when officer spotted him.
Officers chased him for nearly 40 minutes through Jeannette, Hempfield, Mount Pleasant, North Huntingdon and back into Jeannette.
During the chase, police said, Anderson tried ramming one of the police cars involved in the chase. The officer swerved and hit a metal pole outside St. George Crystal. The officer was taken to a hospital to be treated for neck strain.
"Thank God that he had his seat belt on," Stahl said. "The officer told me if he hadn't had his seat belt on, he probably would have went through the windshield."
Several cars were damaged during the chase, including a police cruiser, and three officers were hurt during the collisions with the suspect's car and other crashes during the chase. Stahl said all three are expected to recover.
Anderson was finally stopped and arrested in front of the Kenny Ross Chevrolet dealership in North Huntingdon when two officers in the same Jeanette police car ran Anderson off the road.
"The individual swerved, hit the police car. And at some point, my officer who was driving the vehicle hit his hand, it's all swollen up. The other officer, his partner, when he got out to pull the individual out, another officer landed on his back; he has a nice-sized bruise on his leg," Stahl said.
Anderson was treated for bruised ribs. He was released from the hospital and taken to the Westmoreland County Prison on charges of robbery, fleeing police and aggravated assault on all three officers.
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