MONTGOMERY COUNTY — A man, accused of driving the wrong way on Interstate 75 and causing a crash, appeared in court Tuesday.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 6, court records reveal that 46-year-old James Collins was driving without a valid driver’s license on June 5, the day of the chase and crash.
RELATED>> Brand new aviation video shows man throwing wood at deputies, causing wrong-way crash on I-75
Perry Township Police attempted to pull Collins over in a white GMC Sierra with no visible registration. Instead of stopping, police say Collins fled.
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The Ohio State Highway Patrol’s aviation unit followed the GMC Sierra as it drove all over Montgomery County as if he was being chased.
Law enforcement tried to deploy stop sticks to disable the vehicle, but they were unsuccessful. Then a passenger that was in the bed of the truck, identified as 49-year-old Thomas Downey, began throwing wood from the bed of the truck.
“We have officers flying past this vehicle while wood is being thrown at them, to get in front and start breaking down and locking down intersections,” Major Jeremy Roy said in a press conference Monday.
Collins then, according to law enforcement, began driving east in the westbound lanes of Route 35 before following a ramp the wrong way and driving south on northbound I-75.
“I believe some of these suspects are doing this intentionally to think that we’re going to back off and we’re just not going to do that anymore,” Roy said.
The wrong-way crash happened before law enforcement could stop Collins.
Collins is now in jail after entering a ‘not guilty’ plea in court, facing charges of vehicular assault, obstructing official business and failure to comply with an officer. All while driving without a valid driver’s license.
Collins appeared in court from jail by video. The judge set his bond at $20,000 without the ability to pay 10% of the bond as bail, meaning he would have to pay the full amount in cash to be released and placed on electronic monitoring as his case moves forward.
Downey has not yet appeared in court and is not in police custody.
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