LAKE TOWNSHIP , OH – It started off as an ordinary traffic stop, and turned into a fast-paced police chase down I-280. The entire chase was caught on camera.
Lake Township police said Gregory Baldwin, 36, did not use his turn signal when switching lanes on I-280, so Officer Kelly Clark pulled the Toledoan over.
Clark called for backup on the routine stop. When she asked Baldwin to roll up his windows and come outside of the car, police said Baldwin took off.
Officer Shannon Badgett took the lead from there, chasing Baldwin at speeds of up to nearly 100 miles per hour southbound on I-280.
“You can see how quickly it happens in this video. It’s in a matter of seconds. He made that decision and our officers have to make the same decision as quick,” said Sgt. Scott Sims, who oversaw the chase for Lake Township Police.
At Libbey Road, police said Baldwin made a u-turn from the far right line and began to get onto the turnpike.
“You have to worry about the everyday traffic going down the road. You have to worry about them. So the decision has to be made to either cut off the pursuit and hopefully that guy will stop his aggressive driving or to end the pursuit,” Sims said.
The video showed Baldwin drive up to an Ohio Turnpike tollbooth. He stops, as if he was going to get a ticket, but then speeds through when Badgett came up behind him.
Badgett decided to end the pursuit, and used the PIT Maneuver to take Baldwin’s car off the road.
“Afterwards, all he would say is he was sorry and he got scared,” Sims said.
Police said they found nearly 100 grams of cocaine and about 85 grams of marijuana in Baldwin’s car after the chase. Baldwin was charged with three felonies—possession of drugs, trafficking in drugs and failure to comply with police. Baldwin was booked at the Wood County Jail.