LIBERTY — A Vienna man accused of leading Liberty officers on a chase through the township that ended in a crash made an appearance in court Tuesday.

Christopher Russell Jr., 33, pleaded not guilty to charges of driving under the influence and operation in willful or wanton disregard, while no plea was entered on charges of felonious assault or failure to comply in Girard Municipal Court.

According to a police report, an officer was called to the New Life Fellowship Church on Tibbetts Wick Road Friday in response to reports of suspicious activity, with dispatchers adding that a church administrator called and reported suspects trespassing on the property’s back side.

Upon arrival, the officer noticed two ATVs in a grassy area near a pavilion on the church’s north side, noting that four people were running toward the ATVs. The report states the officer activated his emergency lights to try and make contact with them, but the ATVs started accelerating away into a grass field and the officer notified dispatchers that they were fleeing.

However, as soon as that happened, the ATVs turned around and came back toward the officer, driving in front of him and allowing him to get a good look at both drivers — one of which was identified as Russell Jr., who stuck his middle finger up at the officer, the report states.

The other ATV cut off the one Russell was operating, causing him to slow down to approximately 10 to 15 mph, and the officer maneuvered his patrol vehicle around and in front of Russell’s ATV to attempt to stop him — leaving enough space on both sides for him to maneuver around if he so chose.

The report states that instead of doing that, Russell accelerated hard and rammed his ATV into the patrol car’s passenger side, thrashing the officer around inside his vehicle. The other ATV continued to flee from the officer westbound on Tibbetts Wick, with Russell following at an approximate speed of 45 to 50 mph, passing three vehicles — two of which were in the oncoming lane of travel, according to the report.

The report states Russell then made a right-hand turn onto Kline’s Drive, passing multiple parked vehicles at Kline’s Farms and nearly rear-ending one that was pulling into a private drive. He also drove through a stop sign at 50 mph with no effort to slow before the intersection, the report states.

As the chase reached a Belmont Avenue intersection, Russell hit his brakes hard, forcing the officer to swerve to the passenger side of his ATV and apply heavy brakes as Russell entered the intersection and headed northbound.

The report states that as Russell entered the intersection, the other ATV, also traveling northbound on Belmont at a high rate of speed, crossed paths with the other and collided, causing Russell’s ATV to overturn and the other one to spin out of control, leading the officer to call for fire and EMS personnel.

The officer left his vehicle and pointed his handgun at Russell as he began climbing out of his ATV — seemingly prepared to flee the scene.

The report states the officer ordered Russell to the ground “numerous times,” which he disregarded, and the officer expressed belief Russell was blading his body away from him to pull a weapon from the officer’s waistband — leading the officer to deploy a stun weapon to place handcuffs on him.

The vehicle’s passenger, Matthew Stein, 33, of Niles, also was ordered out of the ATV and handcuffed.

The report states that as Russel was being handcuffed, the other ATV continued westbound on Lucretia Drive. Because it had sustained heavy damage, it was not able to go far and instead came to a stop in front of a house’s front yard, and the occupants — a male driver and another person — exited and began running southbound.

The report states that as officers exchanged information on the two fleeing suspects, the other person, Zoe Carpenter, 36, of Vienna, approached officers and surrendered.

As she was being detained in handcuffs and placed in a patrol car, she asked, “Is my dad good?”, leading the officer to believe the other driver was “likely” Russell Jr’s dad, although Russell was not cooperative and refused to identify himself to officers and hospital staff until he was at the hospital.

The report states Liberty EMS began evaluating Russell, Stein and Carpenter. Russell and Carpenter were transported to the hospital for their injuries from the crash, while Stein refused treatment.

Officers asked Stein about Russell, who identified him when he was shown his BMV image. The report states he told the officer the other driver was Russell’s father, who had the same name but was a Sr., further supported by his BMV picture and the officer’s recollection of the look he was able to get on him on the church property.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol assisted with a crash investigation to complete a crash report, and the two ATVs were towed away and impounded. Both Stein and Carpenter were issued criminal summons for obstructing official business charges.

The report states that as the officer spoke with Russell, he had an “extreme odor” of alcoholic beverage on his breath, and there were open beer cans and a cooler along with ice that had spilled onto the road during the crash — leading the officer to believe he was impaired.

Russell also refused a sobriety test, and refused to sign BMV form 2255, which tells a person they are being placed under an administrative license suspension for either failing a blood, breath or urine test, also applying to the refusal of a blood, breath or urine test.

Russell was released on bond for his charges on Tuesday, and he is set to appear back in court on his charges Sept. 10, according to court records.