High-speed chase leads to golf cart crash, arrest in Put-in-Bay

PUT-IN-BAY, Ohio (WJW) – A man was arrested in Put-in-Bay after a high-speed chase on South Bass Island that resulted in a crash with a golf cart and one person being hospitalized.

According to a press release from the Put-in-Bay Police Department , officers were dispatched on Sunday at about 1:30 a.m. after a report of a man beating a woman in front of the Put-in-Bay School.

Two officers who arrived at the scene saw a man jump into a vehicle that was parked at the school. He then drove north on Catawba Avenue at a high speed toward the officers and almost crashed into the two police vehicles, according to the release.

Officers then chased the suspect on Catawba, Bayview and Harford avenues before the suspect turned the wrong way onto Delaware Avenue, when he again almost crashed into a police car.

While driving in the wrong direction on the one-way Delaware Avenue, the suspect crashed into a golf cart, injuring one of the people inside.

According to the release, the suspect continued driving at high speed south on Catawba Avenue, toward the South Bass Island State Park.

Officers were then joined by an Ottawa County sheriff’s deputy, and followed the suspect through the parking lot where he barely avoided hitting a Put-In-Bay police vehicle head-on, the release said.

That’s when the suspect left the state park and turned onto Niagara Avenue.

The suspect’s vehicle was eventually brought to a stop in a “high-risk” vehicle stop conducted by police. The 39-year-old man from Marion was then taken into custody, the release stated.

A 29-year-old woman was injured during the golf cart crash and was flown to a hospital with minor injuries that could not be treated by EMS, according to the release.

According to the release, the suspect did not have a valid driver’s license and appeared to be intoxicated. He is now facing potential felony, misdemeanor and traffic charges.

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