A Levittown man with a previous history of lying to police was taken into custody after he led authorities on a chase that ended with his vehicle crashing and being captured when he fled on foot into a wooded area in the Langhorne section of Middletown last week.
Russell Chmieleski two weeks short of his 55th birthday sits in a Bucks County Jail cell after fleeing a police initiated traffic stop in Middletown shortly after noon on June 18.
According to Middletown authorities the incident started with a police initiated traffic stop was kicked of by a automatic license plate reader authorities use for tracking wanted subjects.
Police pulled over the light blue Toyota Camry in the Burlington Coat Factory parking lot and contact was made with the operator of the vehicle who identified himself as Evan Chmieleski. A second officer with previous contacts with the suspect suggested the responding officer check Chmieleski for a large tattoo on his neck, noting he has lied to police about his identity in previous contacts, police say in court records.
When Chmieleski overheard the exchange between the two officers about the neck marking he put his vehicle into drive speeding out of the parking area and a full on police chase ensued with emergency lights and sires engaged, said police.
Chmieleski fled down Lincoln Highway with two women in the vehicle as passengers heading towards Oxford Valley Road dodging other vehicles while speeding, police say. He lost control of the vehicle after he hit a median making the vehicle inoperable in the area of a Wawa nearby on Oxford Valley Rd.
The suspect fled on foot into a wooded area behind the convenience franchise where two officers chased him down taking the fleeing man into custody, the criminal complaint says.
Meanwhile Police from Fall Township assisted Middletown Police by detaining the two woman who were traveling with Chmieleski searching the vehicle, finding methadone and drug paraphernalia, court records show.
Chmieleski was arraigned by District Justice Robert L. Wagner Jr. on one count of fleeing, two counts of reckless endangerment, two drug related offenses and several traffic related violations.
He was remanded to Bucks County Correctional Facility on 10 % of $100,000 tentatively scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on June 25.
Chmielesk has an additional open case for false identification to police from September of last year that is still open, according to online court records.
No charges were filed against either passenger in the vehicle, according to online district court records.