WARREN - A Niles man accused of leading police on a chase over the weekend that zig-zagged through Trumbull County and damaged two Warren police vehicles is being held at the Trumbull County Jail on a $150,000 bond.
Harley Tibbs, 28, 847 South St., was arraigned Monday in Warren Municipal Court on charges of felony failure to comply and felonious assault on a police officer.
Tibbs was arrested at his home on Sunday. He is due back in court Jan. 5 for a preliminary hearing, court records show.
The chase started in Niles after police there stopped a Chevrolet Blazer about 7:30 p.m. for reckless operation. The driver sped off, narrowly missing running over the foot of the patrolman making the stop, according to police.
Niles police stopped chasing the vehicle after getting the SUV's temporary tag number.
About 8:30 p.m., two Warren police officers parked in the May's Towing lot saw a vehicle matching the description at Niles Road and South Street.
Detective Sgt. Michael Merritt was returning from a call on Fairmount Avenue N.E. in the department's crime scene van and helped the two officers slow down the Blazer, a Warren police report states. The driver, identified as Tibbs, crashed into the back of the police van, and Merritt and Officer Trevor Sumption got out of their vehicles to confront him, according to police.
Tibbs then put the Blazer in reverse - pinning Sumption between the SUV and the police van - then headed north on South Park Avenue, the report states.
Officer David Weber pursued Tibbs on North Park Avenue for about 20 minutes, crossing into Champion and Southington. Tibbs and Weber both crashed into a ditch at Eagle Creek and Braceville Robinson Road in Braceville.
Tibbs then ran into a wooded area with Weber following him, the report states.
After losing sight of Tibbs, Weber went back to the crash scene and talked to the passenger and vehicle owner, Gina Valeriani, who told Weber she had no idea why Tibbs would not stop. According to court records, Tibbs and Valeriani were issued a marriage license in July 2005.
In October, Tibbs was indicted by the grand jury on charges of failure to comply, tampering with coin machines and petty theft.
Howland police reports claim Tibbs broke into seven video gaming machines at the Mayfair Laundromat Aug. 21. The coin boxes of each were removed and discarded into a nearby trash receptacle. Tibbs could be seen on surveillance video taken at the business, police said.
Valeriani, 25, also of the South Street address, was arrested Aug. 27 on a complicity charge in the break-in. The grand jury sent her case back to municipal court as a misdemeanor, court records show.
On Aug. 8, 2006, Tibbs was charged by Bazetta police with forgery, receiving stolen property and misuse of a credit card after he used a stolen credit card taken from a twice-disappearing vehicle. He pleaded guilty March 15, 2007, to a charge of receiving stolen property and was sentenced to nine months in prison, court records show.