A passenger in a vehicle fleeing police on the U.S. 522 bypass is in jail, while the driver remains at large.
On Saturday, July 11 at about 10:30 p.m. a black SUV with Pennsylvania tags was caught on radar going 51 mph in a 40-mph zone on westbound Martinsburg Road near an entrance to the U.S. 522 bypass.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Morgan County Magistrate Court by Deputy B.K. Knotts, the driver of the SUV, later identified as Ryan Musser, backed up and fled onto the bypass when police attempted to make a traffic stop at Ewing Street.
Deputy Knotts followed in pursuit, heading north on the bypass. He momentarily lost sight of the SUV before it crashed into a guardrail at the Fairview Drive exit after failing to navigate the turn.
At the scene of the crash, Musser allegedly exited the driver’s side door and fled on foot, according to the criminal complaint.
A passenger in the SUV, Danielle M. Pearson, 50, of Middletown, Pa. failed to follow officers’ instructions to lie down on the ground and refused to give her name or date of birth, according to the criminal complaint.
Pearson was placed under arrest for obstructing. After medical clearance at War Memorial Hospital, she was transported to Eastern Regional Jail, where she refused fingerprinting, according to the criminal complaint.
Sheriff Johnny Walter located Pearson’s identification in the SUV.
Pearson is currently incarcerated on a $5,200 bond while awaiting a hearing on two charges of obstruction and fingerprint refusal.
Musser fled on foot, and Deputy Knotts is working on that portion of the investigation, Chief Deputy E.D. Widmeyer said in an email Monday morning.
