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Escapee captured, in jail

LIBERTY — A handcuffed man who slipped from the rear of a Ford Explorer police cruiser, crashed it into a parked car and then ran from the area before being captured a short time later on Dec. 6 is now at the Trumbull County jail.

Jeffrey A. Willard, 31, 608 Wayne St., Sandusky, is facing multiple charges, including theft, obstructing official business, failure to comply with the order of a police officer, escape, having a weapon under disability and criminal damaging, according to jail records.

Willard was at Shakers Bar & Grill, 4520 Belmont Ave., just before 11:30 p.m. Dec. 6 when he was thrown out by the bar’s manager because he was bothering other customers, according to a police report. Once outside, Willard threw a large rock at the manager’s car, breaking a window, and then attempted to enter another patron’s vehicle, the report states.

Willard was captured by bar employees, pinned to the ground and held until police arrived. Somehow, Willard slipped out of his cuffs, squeezed through the police cruiser’s partition and put the car in drive.

He was captured in a nearby neighborhood after crashing the cruiser. Willard is being held without bond and no court date has been set. He was treated at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital, a police report states.

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