Niles man pleads guilty to running from sobriety checkpoint in Youngstown

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — Sentencing will be Oct. 23 for a Niles man who pleaded guilty this week in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to fleeing a sobriety checkpoint earlier this year.

Joseph Bianco, 46, entered his plea Tuesday to a charge of failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer, a third-degree felony. He remains free pending sentencing.

Reports said Bianco was the driver of a car May 17 that refused to stop for an OVI checkpoint in the 1500 block of Mahoning Avenue.

When police tried to pull him over, he refused to stop, first getting on Interstate 680 and then exiting the freeway on the South Side and driving at speeds of up to 90 miles per hour, reports said.

Bianco then crossed over to the West Side, at one point blowing out a tire when he collided with a curb, and continued into Weathersfield Township, reports said. Police followed but backed off as the car continued on just three wheels and a rim, reports said, throwing sparks into the air.

Bianco was taken into custody when he stopped at his home in the 100 block of Royal Mall Drive in Niles. When asked why he didn’t stop, reports said he told police he wanted to get his car home.

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