PRINGLE — A Wilkes-Barre man led police on a high-speed chase early Wednesday, taking to some railroad tracks and ramming a police car before running from his disabled vehicle and being captured in a foot chase, according to police.
Kingston police say they saw Dario Collado, 21, of 319 Lehigh St., driving a silver Nissan Xterra with an invalid license plate on Grove Street near Division Street in Pringle around 2:35 a.m. When an officer turned on his lights for a traffic stop, Collado promptly sped away, according to the complaint.
Making his way to the Cross Valley Expressway, Collado led police on a chase reaching speeds in excess of 90 mph, police said. He turned off at the Kingston exit and then took Wyoming Avenue north to Forty Fort before circling back on Welles Street and getting back on the Cross Valley, police said.
Collado continued southbound until getting off at Kidder Street, speeding in excess of 80 mph until he hit Conyngham Avenue, the complaint says. The chase continued up Wilkes-Barre Boulevard and then back out to the Cross Valley, this time heading northbound, police said.
Collado took the Forty Fort exit and continued fleeing on Rutter Avenue, crossing the center median and driving in the oncoming lane of traffic, according to the charges.
After making his way up Slocum Street, Collado made an abrupt turn onto the railroad tracks behind the Fortis Institute, police said. An officer pursuing Collado drove his cruiser parallel to the tracks in a dirt parking lot before Collado veered off to his right and rammed the police car’s driver’s side door, the complaint says.
The impact caused the cruiser to swerve right toward a building, and Collado’s vehicle returned to the railroad tracks, where it finally broke down, according to police.
Collado and an unidentified passenger jumped out of the car and ran into some trees, police said. Officers caught Collado a short time later without further incident, but the passenger escaped.
Collado claimed he only ran because he had a suspended driver’s license and he knew the vehicle he was driving was not registered, the complaint says. He also claimed no knowledge of the identity of the passenger who fled the scene, according to the charges.
The Kingston police cruiser that Collado hit sustained moderate damage in the crash, while a Forty Fort cruiser got a flat tire and a damaged wheel during the chase, police said.
Police charged Collado with two counts of aggravated assault and one count each of fleeing and eluding, reckless endangerment, simple assault, driving without a license, driving an unregistered vehicle and careless driving.
Magisterial District Judge Brian James Tupper arraigned Collado on the charges Wednesday morning and ordered him jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility with bail set at $15,000.
A preliminary hearing was set for Dec. 4.