Man leads Brown County SO and Georgetown PD on high-speed pursuit in stolen truck

by Aaron Gibson, Editor, Dec 3, 2015

A man is under arrest after he allegedly stole a truck and lead county and village police agencies on a high-speed pursuit through Georgetown Wednesday, Dec 2.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed moments ago in Brown County Municipal Court, Deputy Brandon Johnson of Brown County Sheriff’s Office was called to a report of a truck stolen from the McKinney Mart parking lot in Hamersville when he spotted the vehicle in the area of OH-125 and Eden Rd.

Johnson said he followed the truck several miles before attempting to initiate a traffic stop near the Brown County Fair Grounds in Georgetown, according to the affidavit.

The driver of the truck, later identified as Jonathan David Reichel, of Bloomington, Indiana, allegedly refused to pull over and lead at least one other Brown County Sheriff’s deputy and two assisting Georgetown Police officers on a high-speed pursuit at speeds in excess of 80 MPH.

During the pursuit, Reichel allegedly lost control of his vehicle several times, and on multiple occasions purposely struck the cruiser driven by Georgetown Police Patrol Officer Matt Staggs in an attempt to run him off of the road, Johnson wrote in the affidavit. At one point, Reichel allegedly drove through a church’s yard on North Street, causing the vehicle to go completely airborne after hitting a bump at a high rate of speed.

The pursuit ended after Reichel was allegedly blocked from going any further onto Beyer Rd by Deputy Johnson, he wrote in the affidavit. He was then pulled out of the vehicle and placed under arrest without any further confrontation.

Video camera footage was later obtained from McKinney Mart which suggested Reichel may have stole an $8.00 bottle of vodka, but the bottle could not be located inside of the stolen truck. However, a strong odor of alcohol was noticed on Reichel, who refused to submit to testing to determine his blood alcohol content (BAC), according to Johnson.

The affidavit says Reichel faces an extra charge after he allegedly attempted to smuggle a small amount of marijuana into the Brown County Adult Detention Center, where he was to be held before being transferred to Butler County Jail in Hamilton.

Bond has not yet been set for Reichel, who remains incarcerated in the Butler County Jail.

Reichel is expected to be charged with one count of fourth-degree felony theft, one count of third-degree felony failure to comply with order or signal of police officer, one count of third-degree felony illegal conveyance of drugs of abuse onto the grounds of a specified governmental facility, one count of first-degree misdemeanor operating vehicle under the influence, and one count of first-degree misdemeanor theft.

This is not the first time Reichel has been accused of stealing a vehicle and leading police on a high-speed pursuit. WBIW of Bedford, Indiana reported on an incident in April 2015 where Reichel was hospitalized after allegedly leading Columbus, Indiana police on a chase in a stolen car.

—Brown County Crime Reporter Dec 3, 2015 10:30 AM EST, Updated 4:10 PM EST

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