AUSTINTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — The driver of a car that police said led officers on a chase Thursday that later crashed and split in half in Youngstown is wanted on two warrants by Austintown Township police.
Jaquan Jenkins, 22, is wanted on warrants for failure to comply, a misdemeanor, and obstructing official business, a fifth-degree felony.
Jenkins’ whereabouts are not clear. He was taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center after the car he was driving crashed into a pole at about 7:40 p.m., splitting in half and killing a 22-year-old woman passenger inside.
Her name has not yet been released. Youngstown police said the car belonged to the woman and Jenkins was driving.
Austintown police said Monday that Jenkins left the hospital and that officers are looking for him.
Any charges for the crash would have to be filed by Youngstown police because the crash happened there.
Austintown police reports said that officers were called about 7:30 p.m. to Idaho Road and Westchester Drive by a person who said there was a couple fighting in a car. The caller knew the names of Jenkins and the woman with him, and as police arrived, the car was pulling out of a Westchester Drive parking lot.
Police found the car at Idaho Road and Mahoning Avenue, but it failed to pull over right away, reports said. When it finally did pull over in the 4000 block of Mahoning Ave., police told Jenkins that they ran a records check and found that he had a warrant for his arrest, reports said. Reports also noted that Jenkins denied there had been any type of fight or argument before he was told of the records check and he appeared calm, reports said.
Reports said Jenkins acted like he was going to shut the car off but instead put the car in gear and led police on a chase east on Mahoning Avenue. Police tried to use stop sticks at Mahoning and North Edgehill avenues to stop the car, but they did not work, reports said.
A supervisor told officers to stop the chase just before they approached Raccoon Road, reports said, and the car disappeared from sight.
A few minutes later, township police learned that the car was involved in an accident at Mahoning and South Bon Air avenues in Youngstown, reports said.