An 18-year-old Homestead man was arrested after a police pursuit in Shaler that began after a township officer identified the car he was driving as stolen, according to a criminal complaint.
Sehven Rule was apprehended along with four others in the car after officers used spike strips and one used his vehicle to pin the driver’s door shut and prevent Rule from fleeing, the complaint states.
According to the complaint, a Shaler officer was monitoring traffic in the 900 block of William Flynn Highway when around 3 a.m. Thursday he saw a car pass him. Its license plate came back as stolen.
The officer caught up with the car turning onto Butler Plank Road, where police said a gun shop is located and had been the target of an attempted burglary on April 8.
Police also noted that Shaler and the surrounding area has been plagued with vehicle break-ins where suspects arrive in stolen vehicles and groups of four-to-six people try to steal cars or items from cars.
Rule was with three juveniles, ages 13 and 16, and one adult, 18, police said. None were identified.
“We have reason to believe that these individuals were in Shaler Township to either enter unlocked vehicles or commit a burglary,” police said on their Facebook account.
The car did not stop when the Shaler officer first tried to pull it over, and an ensuing chase on William Flynn Highway reached up to 80 mph, the complaint states.
The driver, later identified as Rule, avoided an initial attempt to stop the car with spike strips by making a U-turn, after which he drove into a Shaler patrol car and continued on, the complaint states. The driver and others in the car were all wearing hoodies and face coverings.
The pursuit continued on various roads to Kittanning Street and Sharps Hill Road, where spike strips were again deployed and made contact with the stolen car’s front tires, the complaint states.
The car eventually crashed into a parked minivan at the end of Kittanning Street.
When Rule opened the driver’s door to flee on foot, an officer drove his patrol vehicle into the door, pinning Rule in the vehicle to prevent him from fleeing, the complaint states.
When the front passenger got out, Rule tried to crawl across the center console, but another officer arrived and all were apprehended at gunpoint, according to the complaint.
Police said Rule repeatedly gave them false identification. He was ultimately identified using a photograph, and was found to be wanted in Pittsburgh on gun charges and by the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office on a probation violation involving gun charges. He also does not possess a driver’s license.
The ignition had been ripped off of the stolen car and there was no key, the complaint states.
Charges against Rule include child endangerment, receiving stolen property, fleeing or attempting to elude police, corruption of minors, criminal mischief, false identification and several traffic offenses.
Rule was denied bail as a danger to the community when he was arraigned Thursday and was being held in the Allegheny County Jail, according to court records. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 3 before District Judge Daniel J. Konieczka Jr.
Shaler Police on social media reminded residents to keep their vehicles and valuables, especially firearms, secured.