Montgomery police, Hamilton County deputies and troopers from the Ohio State Highway patrol chased a stolen Mercedes-Benz for more than 20 miles down Interstate 71 on Jan. 24.
When they finally stopped it, they found a driver wanted on multiple felony theft charges, four teenage passengers and stolen objects from across the Cincinnati area. The car itself had been taken from outside Columbus, law enforcement said.
Driver Jeremiah Jackson, 19, was arrested on the scene and faces six charges in Hamilton County alone: Three counts of receiving stolen property, one count of misusing a stolen credit card, one count of failing to comply with police orders, and a final count of criminal damaging.
By the time of his arrest, he was already wanted in Franklin County, where he was accused of stealing a car, and in Logan County, where authorities said he stole another car and struck a police cruiser during a chase.
According to police and court documents, the Jan. 24 chase down I-71 began with Jackson and his teenage passengers attempting to pickpocket a man at the Kroger on Montgomery Road.
When they fled the scene, police attempted to stop them; when they failed to stop, it became a pursuit. Law enforcement laid spike strips on the interstate. Passengers chucked stolen items out the window of the Mercedes.
The items later recovered from the incident included a credit card stolen from a woman’s car parked outside a Madeira church and a purse taken from a woman in Newport.
Montgomery police said they hope Jackson’s arrest will put an end to his reported crime spree.
