Man arrested after leading police on wild chase in Westmoreland County
A wanted man is behind bars after a wild chase in Westmoreland County that nearly injured two police officers, authorities said.
Police said Matthew Murphy was spotted by a patrolman on South 15th Street in Jeannette when he approached him and asked for identification.
"The patrolman then opened the front driver door and ordered Murphy out of the vehicle. Murphy requested that we wait and let him finish his cigarette. Murphy was advised again to step out of the vehicle, or he would be removed from the vehicle. Murphy did not comply," police said in criminal paperwork.
Officers then tried to remove Murphy from the vehicle and asked the woman in the driver seat to get out of the car.
"Murphy stuck his right foot in to the bottom corner of the vehicle and resisted efforts to remove him from the vehicle and ignored numerous commands to get out of the vehicle," police said.
Police then tased Murphy in the stomach.
"Murphy pulled away from me and was manipulating the gear shift in attempt to put the vehicle in a condition to flee," police said in the paperwork.
One of the officers then pulled the other officer out of the vehicle before Murphy took off at a high rate of speed. Police said Murphy crashed a few blocks away into a temporary fence at the end of an alley and took off on foot.
Witnesses told KDKA-TV they saw Murphy jump over a fence and run in between two houses, where they saw him hiding under a back porch.
Murphy was arrested by police in a backyard. Police said they found drug contraband, suspected to be a crack pipe, in the area of the porch where Murphy was hiding.
"That was just a situation that should have never happened down there. He shouldn't have done it," said Dale Barkefelt, who lives a few houses down from where Murphy was found hiding.
Barkefelt said he wants to see speed bumps installed in the neighborhood to slow down drivers.
"He could have hurt somebody else, especially if they have baseball games here. And sometimes this street is jam packed with little ones, and they're running up and down the sidewalks, and if one would have came out and got in front of him, they would have been killed instantly," Barkefelt said.
Murphy is behind bars at the Westmoreland County Jail without bail. He faces a list of charges, including fleeing police, resisting arrest, recklessly endangering another person and receiving stolen property.
