Driver in chase hoped police would give up: Report

LIBERTY TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WKBN) – A Leavittsburg man is facing felony charges following a police chase last week.

Jacob Naypaver, 30, is charged by two police departments with failure to comply, a third-degree felony.

According to a police report, Naypaver was riding a Suzuki motorcycle on Tibbetts Wick Road last Friday afternoon with an unreadable license registration. A Liberty officer attempted to pull Naypaver over at the intersection of Logan Way and state Route 304, but he sped off, “splitting” in between oncoming traffic and traveling at speeds over 100 miles per hour, according to a police report.

The Liberty officer said he called off the pursuit due to Naypaver’s reckless driving but made other police departments aware.

A short time later, Hubbard Township police located Naypaver on Wick Campbell Road, and another pursuit ensued involving Brookfield police as well, but they lost sight of him on Sodom Hutchings Road and state Route 82, the report stated.

Police then received a call from a witness who said that Naypaver lost control of the motorcycle on Smith Stewart Road and laid it down into a grass field. He then tried to hide the motorcycle behind a dilapidated garage, the witness said.

Police went to the area on Smith Stewart where Naypaver was arrested at gunpoint after he tried to run away.

When speaking with officers, Naypaver said he ran because he didn’t have a motorcycle endorsement, and he thought police would “back off” if he drove over 60 miles per hour.

Naypaver is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Thursday in both Girard Municipal Court and Trumbull County Eastern District Court. His bond in Girard was set at $7,500 and $25,000 in the Eastern District Court.

In Ohio, driving without a motorcycle endorsement is a misdemeanor.

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