Staff writer
The man suspected of breaking into a Burgettstown store and stealing a motorcycle earlier this week was arrested in Westmoreland County early Thursday morning after he led troopers on a chase, state police said.
State police arrested Donald L. Brown II, 34, of Jeannette, and charged him with aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, resisting arrest, drunken driving, fleeing and several traffic violations in connection with the chase.
Brown also is being charged with burglary, theft and criminal conspiracy by state police in Washington County. The charges stem from the Tuesday morning break-in at a Burgettstown motorcycle shop operated by First Shot Sporting Goods.
Early Thursday morning, state police patrolling Route 30 in Hempfield Township spotted Brown riding a motorcycle without registration and its lights turned off. They attempted to stop him, Trooper David McClintock said, but Brown exited the highway in Adamsburg and then drove through parking lots and yards while trying to elude the police.
He stopped only after he could not drive the motorcycle up a steep embankment, police said. McClintock said they used a police dog to subdue Brown when he resisted arrest.
Brown was taken to Westmoreland Hospital in Greensburg and treated for injuries he suffered from the police dog. He was arraigned by District Judge Mark Mansour and sent to Westmoreland County Jail on $35,000 bond.
A warrant for Brown's arrest was issued Friday for the charges in Washington County. State police Trooper John Dorben said Brown was involved in the Tuesday morning burglary at the Burgettstown motorcycle shop. It is not known if the motorcycle Brown was driving during the chase is the same one that was taken from the shop.
Dorben is still investigating whether Brown also is responsible for vandalizing three Burgettstown police cars, which occurred around the same time as the burglary at the motorcycle shop. A front tire on each of the police department's three cars had been slashed and two of the cruisers' windshields were smashed with a large brick, causing about $2,000 in damage.
State police are handling that investigation because no Burgettstown police officers were on duty when the burglary and vandalism occurred.