May 25, 2017 3 min read

Greene County Regional police said they were able to identify one of the UTV-driving suspects they’d been chasing May 13 around Mt. Morris after receiving what was purported to be a recording of the chase posted on the social media network Snapchat.

David Dillan Smith, 24, of 207 Little Shannon Run Road, Mt. Morris, was charged by police Wednesday with fleeing an officer, recklessly endangering another person and 10 traffic-related summary offenses, including driving a utility task vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.

Police said the chase began about 10:30 p.m. when a patrol officer noticed a UTV driver ignoring a stop sign. Police said the officer followed the UTV to a parking lot near O’Reilly’s Bar on Mt. Morris Road, where two other UTVs were parked and four other people were standing around drinking beer.

Police said that when they pulled into the parking lot, all of the suspects got into the UTVs and sped away. Police said they followed one of the UTVs at 80 miles per hour through Mt. Morris as the suspects were throwing beer cans onto the road. Police said they stopped the chase because of other vehicles on the road and when they received a 911 call in another area.

Police said that during the chase they passed the UTVs multiple times, but the drivers would not stop. They said at one point, an officer noticed one of the drivers holding up his cellphone as if taking a video of the police car behind him.

Police said an anonymous source provided them with a screenshot from a video of the pursuit that was posted on Snapchat. It was unclear whether Smith was the one who took the video or if he or any other people could be seen in the video.

“The picture is blurry and fuzzy, but red and blue lights are visible in the screen,” police wrote in the complaint.

Police said a passing vehicle stopped near a patrol car in the area, and the driver, whom police did not identify, told police that his family was almost killed near Spraggs by two of the speeding UTVs, which forced his vehicle off the road.

“They almost killed us,” the man told police in the criminal complaint. “I have a 6-month-old daughter in my car, and they almost killed us. They were flying.”

Police said that about 11 p.m. they found Smith’s orange and black UTV in the parking lot of a funeral home on Ellsworth Avenue. Smith allegedly took off again in the UTV, but police said his friend, Cody VanDusan, was still standing in the lot.

VanDusan told police that Smith had asked him to pick him and his vehicle up at the funeral home. VanDusan said that he brought his trailer to pick up Smith, but was unaware that Smith was running from police. VanDusan gave police Smith’s name and phone number, the complaint said.

Police said they could not continue the investigation that night because they had other 911 calls to respond to, but they found the orange and black UTV parked outside Smith’s residence Tuesday night, and made the arrest this week.

Smith was jailed on a $10,000 percentage bond. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. June 6 before District Judge Lee Watson.

Police did not say whether they know who the other drivers were that night or whether other people will be charged.