GNAW BONE — A 31-year-old Brown County man faces a felony for resisting law enforcement after police say he led them on a pursuit and evaded them several times in the area of State Road 46 East.
Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy Chad Williams was patrolling traffic at Bailey’s Bait and Tackle on July 11 when he saw a motorcycle going west at 71 MPH in a 55 MPH zone, the probable cause affidavit states.
The driver of the white, sport-style motorcycle, James Schiffer, turned his head and looked directly at Williams as he passed his patrol vehicle, the report said.
When Williams pulled out on 46 East to attempt to stop the motorcycle, he reported hearing it accelerate. Williams followed and never lost sight of it. The motorcycle was traveling at speeds over 100 MPH on 46 East, he reported.
Schiffer turned on to Salt Creek Road and looked back at Williams to see if he was still behind him. He continued going over 80 MPH on Salt Creek Road. He ended up driving straight into the grass in a curve in the 3500 block, Williams reported.
Williams stopped, but Schiffer turned around and headed back toward Williams. Williams got out of his vehicle and yelled at Schiffer to stop, but he rode around him and went back on Salt Creek Road going south, the affidavit states.
Schiffer turned onto Brown Hill Road and Williams reported that the motorcycle almost lost control several times on the gravel part of it.
Det. Paul Henderson had blocked part of Brown Hill Road and had his emergency lights on, but Schiffer went around Henderson’s vehicle and kept driving, the affidavit states.
He drove back to 46 East where he continued to go over 100 MPH, passing cars on the double yellow line and causing oncoming traffic to move over to avoid hitting him, the report said.
Schiffer turned right onto Old State Road 46 and drove to Van Buren Street before turning south and getting back onto 46 East. At this time, he was going 120 to 130 mph, passing cars and almost causing accidents, Williams reported.
A couple of times during the pursuit, Schiffer would slow down as if he was going to pull over before taking off again.
As Schiffer and officers were approaching Hoover Road, Schiffer stopped and Williams was able to position his police vehicle in front of his motorcycle to prevent him from taking off again.
Schiffer got off his motorcycle and put his hands in the air. He was placed under arrest.
He told officers he had fled from them because his license plates were expired, according to the affidavit.
Schiffer had injured both of his knees and was bleeding. He said he hurt his collarbone when he crashed the bike on Salt Creek Road. Williams took him to Columbus Regional Hospital to be checked out before taking him to jail.
After being released from the hospital, Schiffer was booked into the Brown County jail on charges of resisting law enforcement with a vehicle and reckless driving. He was also issued summonses for speeding, having expired license plates, having no motorcycle endorsement violation and operating a vehicle without financial responsibility. His motorcycle was towed.
Schiffer was formally charged with resisting law enforcement, a Level 6 felony, and reckless driving, a Class C misdemeanor, on July 19.
