Apr 18, 2026 By Jon Andreassi 2 min read

Monongahela police charged a former Greene Washington Regional Police officer Wednesday for evading police nearly a month ago.

Nathanael Charles Ferree, 43, of McKeesport, faces a felony charge of fleeing or attempting to elude an officer, and summary traffic violations of failure to yield to an emergency vehicle, reckless driving and driving at a safe speed.

According to the criminal complaint, the charges stem from an incident that occurred at 11:42 a.m. March 22 when police saw Ferree driving north on State Route 837 in New Eagle at a high rate of speed. Charging documents state that Ferree was driving in excess of 84 mph in zones where the speed limit is 35 mph and 45 mph.

Ferree allegedly drove for about two miles while police had their sirens active, and passed another vehicle by crossing the double yellow line into the southbound lane, court documents state.

According to the complaint, Ferree was brought to a stop when a second police vehicle drove in front of him to box him in.

Ferree indicated he was an off-duty police officer, and Monongahela police found a badge in his wallet. Ferree was briefly detained at the scene but released after police found he had a valid driver’s license.

Greene Washington Regional Police Chief William DeForte said he was not aware of the incident until charges were filed this week. Ferree had resigned from the department last month for an unrelated reason.

“The reason being that he was cultivating a security business on the side. That was taking more time, taking time away from the police department. I have a community to protect. I gave him the option. He chose security. I asked for his resignation,” DeForte said. “It just happened they both coincided around the same time. It was more coincidental than anything.”

However, DeForte says there would have been consequences had the department learned about the incident.

“If Nathan Ferree was employed at the time of this incident, we would have suspended him immediately pending termination. We hold our officers to a higher standard off-duty, and this type of behavior is unacceptable,” DeForte said.

According to online court records, Ferree has not been arraigned on the charges and a preliminary hearing has not been scheduled.