FPS staff report
April 8, 2008

Shannon M. Pasco

A high-speed chase which began March 31 following the robbery of a store in East Sparta in Stark County and ended on Nelson Lane near Malvern resulted in the arrest of a Minerva woman and a Waynesburg man.

Charged with failure to comply, receiving stolen property, vandalism, breaking and entering and obstructing justice is Shannon M. Pasco, 37, of 189 Euclid St., Minerva, who is being held in the Stark County jail on a $25,000 cash bond with 10% down set Tuesday in Canton Municipal Court.

Magnolia Police Chief Jeffrey L. Hager said charges were to be filed Tuesday against Pasco's accomplice, Lawrence R. Allen, of 122 Mill St., Waynesburg, who is to be charged with receiving stolen property, vandalism, breaking and entering and obstructing justice.

Lawrence R. Allen

Chief Hager said the apprehension was due primarily to the professional efforts of Sgt. Andrew Shuster, who spotted a vehicle which ran a posted stop sign at Ash and Main St. in East Sparta at  which began the high-speed chase.

Sgt. Shuster said he immediately activated the cruiser's overhead lights signaling the driver to stop.

The driver slowed, but failed to stop and continued north on Main St. and proceeded to turn right onto Westbrook SE, Sgt. Shuster reported.

"The driver appeared to be compliant at the green light so I removed my seat belt and reached for the door handle when the driver proceeded rapidly through the now changing light," Sgt. Shuster said.

"At this point I activated the emergency siren and the driver accelerated up the hill, obviously fleeing. I advised my dispatch via radio of the situation and continued to follow the vehicle, which approached a difficult right turn in the 3900 block of Westbrook and the driver lost control momentarily.

At this point I urged the driver over the public address system to stop the vehicle, but she (Pasco) did not comply. The driver continued to operate erratically into a difficult left turn at the 5000 block of Westbrook, again losing control of the vehicle," the officer noted.

Sgt. Shuster said the driver continued east on Westbrook at speeds between 60 and 80 miles per hour (MPH) and upon approaching a straight away in the 5500 block of Westbrook, the driver was traveling in excess of 90 MPH.

When the chase approached the intersection of Westbrook and Willowdale SE, the driver turned left onto Willowdale and continued north maintaining high speeds until the 9000 block where a very technical down hill "S" curve had to be maneuvered, Shuster reported.

Once through the "S" curve, the driver turned onto Grovedale SE and began to head east toward the village of Waynesburg where Sgt. Shuster notified Waynesburg police via radio to stand by.

As the driver traveled up a steep hill on Grovedale, Sgt. Shuster said he observed the passenger throwing an item of clothing out of the passenger's side window in the 6200 block of Grovedell. (A later investigation showed the item belonged to the victim of the robbery).

"The driver was now approaching 90 MPH on the downhill side of Grovedell where the vehicle continued through a stop sign at Waynesburg Dr. (SR 183) with no effort to stop. Waynesburg police was in place to the south and the traffic on the roadway stopped for safety," Sgt. Shuster noted.

The driver then traveled south into the village of Waynesburg, narrowly missing a head-on collision with the assisting Waynesburg patrol car as Shuster continued to follow the driver east onto Canal St. which merges into North Market. The driver then turned east onto Maple and traveled on Maple until approaching a stop sign at Maple and Greer Rd.

Again, the driver made no attempt to stop at the stop sign and proceeded into Greer road at a blind intersection, turning left and traveling north on Greer back into Sandy Township.

"At this point Carroll County sheriff's deputies were notified," Sgt. Shuster said and the driver proceeded on Greer to Minerva Road (SR 183), making an attempt to stop or slow down at the posted stop sign as she made a right turn onto the SR 183," he added.

Now traveling east on Minerva road toward the Carroll County line, Sgt. Shuster said the driver was again driving at or about 90 mph. Upon crossing the county line on SR 183 (now Alliance Road), the driver proceeded toward the Green Acres Mobile Estates where she slowed drastically at the Nelson Lane entrance and made a hard right turn into the mobile home allotment.

Sgt. Shuster said the driver continued on Nelson Lane and into a field and then made a large circle in the field, hoping to double back onto the road.
"At this point I was between a creek and the only avenue of escape. The driver came to a stop and both the driver and passenger immediately exited the vehicle and fled on foot, Sgt. Shaster related.

He said he pursued the driver on foot and was able to apprehend her (Pasco) approximately 20 yards in front of the vehicle.

Carroll County deputies arrived and began searching for the male passenger.

Sgt. Shuster said an initial survey of the vehicle and the surrounding area resulted in finding multiple unopened packs of cigarettes and lottery tickets reportedly taken from McDades Market at 2027 Walnut St. in East Sparta, where a rock was thrown through the front window of the business and specific items missing were later matched with items recovered at the end of the chase.

Sgt. Shuster said the driver (Pasco) refused to tell officers who the fleeing passenger was, only describing him as having a shaved head and being approximately six feet tall.

A review of the video showed the passenger was a medium build white male with dark brown or black hair wearing an orange and brown jacket with white tennis shoes.

Items stolen from McDades Market included lottery tickets with a total value of less than $40 and cigarettes valued at $9.30.

Warrants are filed against Pasco in Carroll County Municipal Court on 2 counts of driving under the influence, 1 count of driving under suspension and 1 count of driving left of center.