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WARREN -- Authorities spent a lot of the day Monday looking for Fred Wild III, the 50-year-old man who was killed in an officer-involved shooting on some property off Route 7 in Brookfield on Tuesday morning.
A 911 call at 2:06 p.m. Monday stated that Wild was at a business in the 8800 block of Tod Avenue SW in Lordstown and the management wanted him removed because he had been a nuisance. The report stated Wild got into his orange Dodge truck with a dog and started driving on Highland Avenue.
The 911 report also stated that Wild was sought by Liberty police who had spotted him Saturday at Pleasant Valley Church. Court records show that Wild's criminal record contains at least five charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated. However, there is no indication Wild was impaired during the events of Monday and Tuesday.
The police chase of Wild's truck on Monday was initiated in Lordstown, and continued into Weathersfield at speeds of 85 and 90 mph, the report states. The truck turned toward the southwest side of Warren and Leavittsburg, dropping speed to 75 mph. The chase eventually led authorities through Champion, Bazetta and Howland before getting on the bypass eastbound toward Howland. At East Market Street, the speeds picked up to 110 mph.
The chase continued through Howland and by 2:40 p.m. was eastbound on King Graves toward Vienna. After getting on King Graves Road, speeds remained about 70 mph when he tuned south on railroad tracks near the intersection with Warner Road. The truck traveled on the railroad tracks until it got stuck on the Merwin Chase Road overpass about 2:50 p.m., the report states.
Authorities found the driver's side door of the Dodge was open so Wild possibly had bailed out. Police from various jurisdictions, including the Ohio State Highway Patrol's plane, searched the area surrounding the tracks for Wild and his medium-sized dog.
At 4:50 p.m., a caller to 911 reported an older white man with a white jacket and black pants walking suspiciously on Merwin Chase Road toward Route 7. Authorities didn't find anything while checking the area, the report states.
It wasn't until about eight hours later that the land owner off Route 7 in Brookfield, about a mile north of the Merwin Chase intersection, notified authorities about a suspicious man in a cabin on the property. That man turned out to be Wild, who was surrounded by authorities and then shot while trying to flee in a stolen truck.
The report states that Liberty police were looking for Wild because he had an arrest warrant out of Lake County. On Saturday, a woman reported that Wild was at her Liberty home and she wanted Wild to leave. Officers spotted Wild coming out of Pleasant Valley Church's driveway, but he drove away.
Lake County court records show Wild named in a bench warrant because he didn't appear to answer charges of failure to comply and OVI. Trumbull County records show Wild faced OVI charges in 2020 in Girard Municipal Court, in 2016 in Trumbull County Common Pleas court, in 2014 in Niles Municipal Court and in 2012 in Warren Municipal Court.