Sep 5, 2018 2 min read

A Rostraver Township man was arrested early Tuesday morning when Monongahela police said he allegedly hit a patrol car while trying to elude officers who were chasing him.

Brody J. McFadden, 48, of Webster, was arraigned before District Judge Mark Wilson on charges including aggravated assault and fleeing from police.

A Monongahela police officer said in court papers police were responding to a public drunkenness call at Sheetz on Main Street about 2:30 a.m. when a man, later identified as McFadden, allegedly left the gas station in a maroon Mazda 6 before he drove back through the parking lot onto Railroad Street.

From there, he allegedly led officers on a chase through Carroll Township and New Eagle and to Route 837 in Union Township.

Court papers don’t list an attorney for him.

The aggravated assault charge stems from a point in the pursuit when McFadden allegedly hit a police cruiser after the officer driving the cruiser used a maneuver to force McFadden’s vehicle to spin into a ditch by the highway and then use the car to block him there. McFadden’s vehicle reportedly struck the car’s front passenger-side door as he accelerated out of the ditch.

McFadden finally stopped when the same officer pulled in front of him and braked, according to court papers. Police said they had to forcibly remove McFadden from the car and handcuff him. Police accuse him of giving officers an alias before they learned his real name – and that he was wanted on a parole warrant – from a dispatcher.

He reportedly said he “was paranoid” when police asked why he fled. Police performed a sobriety test before he was brought to Mon Valley Hospital for a blood draw.

He also faces charges including resisting arrest, reckless endangerment, drug possession and driving under the influence, plus traffic citations.

Court records don’t explain what drug McFadden allegedly possessed, or what he’d taken that purportedly impaired his driving.

McFadden was sent to Washington County jail after Wilson set bond at $100,000.