Fleeing suspect captured

0

A Hillsboro area man who temporarily eluded officers after a long vehicle pursuit Wednesday morning was captured late in the afternoon while walking down a Highland County Road.

Highland County Sheriff Donnie Barrera said Dakota Nicely was taken into custody by deputies around 4:30 or 5 p.m. on Hastings Road.

The Hillsboro Police Department said the episode started when Nicely fled from officers in a 1997 Toyota Camry at 9:13 a.m. after they tried to make a traffic stop on West Main Street in Hillsboro.

A police department spokesperson said an officer tried to stop Nicely after he was observed failing to maintain control of the vehicle he was driving, swerving in his lane of traffic, and ran off the right side of the road. Nicely refused to stop and fled westbound on U.S. Route 50, traveled through Allensburg and Dodsonville, turned onto Quallen Road, and eventually crashed the vehicle near the intersection of Murtland and North Fork roads, the spokesperson said.

Nicely lost control of the vehicle, hit a guardrail, crashed, then jumped out of the vehicle and fled on foot into a heavily wooded area, according to the spokesperson.

The Highland County Sheriff’s Office, Ohio State Highway Patrol, a K9 unit and an aerial unit joined the police department in the initial search, but they were not able to locate the suspect.

Nicely is in his 20s and had several local warrants out for his arrest, Barrera said.

The sheriff said his office received several calls from neighbors reporting they had seen a person matching Knisley’s description walking on Sherry Road. He said officers located Nicely just as he was walking off Sherry Road onto Hastings Road.

Nicely was taken into custody without incident, Barrera said.

The police department said a female occupant of Nicely’s vehicle, who officers did not originally know was in the vehicle, was located earlier. But the police department said she had nothing to do with the incident, and was questioned and released.

There were early reports, according to the police department, that Nicely could be armed. The spokesperson said ammunition was recovered from his vehicle, but no firearm was found.

The police department said Wednesday afternoon that while no formal charges had been filed, Nicely would likely face a long list of offenses.

The spokesperson also said Nicely was wearing a gray dress suit when the pursuit began.

The Lynchburg-Clay Local Schools were placed on lockdown as a precautionary measure, according to the police department.

Reach Jeff Gilliland at 937-402-2522.

https://www.timesgazette.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2019/10/web1_Hillsboro-police-logo-2.jpg
Officers say Knisley initially eluded them, but was captured later walking down a road

By Jeff Gilliland

[email protected]

No posts to display