Boardman police arrest new dad wanted for chase, crash
BOARDMAN — Police have arrested a man they say led police on a chase that ended with a crash in Poland Village late last month.
Henry D. Wright, 18, of Girard, is in the Mahoning County jail after being arrested Monday on a warrant through the Boardman Police Department. He is due in Mahoning County Boardman Court on March 18 to face a felony charge of failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer.
Wright is accused of leading police on a chase that began near St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital and ended in the 300 block of North Main Street in Poland Village, near Island Drive. The police report states that Wright was driving his girlfriend’s SUV and was on the way to see her at the hospital where she was having a baby. Wright is the baby’s father.
The woman’s sister told police after the crash that she only knew Wright as “Doug Dog” but while searching the vehicle after the crash, police found Wright’s phone and two forms of identification that belonged to him.
The report states that a Boardman officer attempted to stop a black Infiniti EX35 around 6:45 p.m. Feb. 26 as it was driving down Market Street with no headlights in dark, rainy conditions, and failed to use a turn signal when it turned slowly onto McClurg Road.
The report states the vehicle proceeded slowly down McClurg toward South Avenue, failing to stop, then ran the stop sign at Southern Boulevard and picked up speed, to about 40 mph.
The SUV turned left onto South Avenue from the right lane and sped up more, failing to maintain lanes or use its signal. It turned right at U.S. Route 224, from the through traffic lane, nearly hitting a vehicle in the curb lane, the report states.
On Route 224, the vehicle sped up again to about 60 mph and used the center turning lane to pass other vehicles. It made a left turn on a red light onto North Main Street in Poland and continued a short way until stopped traffic brought the chase to a halt.
The Infiniti struck a white pickup truck and the driver got out of the car and fled through a yard.
The report states the man left the car in drive and it coasted off the road into a driveway and hit a parked car.
Despite a broad search of the area, using a police dog provided by Springfield Township Police, officers were unable to locate the man. The police report — rereleased Tuesday with some previously redacted information now available — states that police identified Wright almost immediately using his alias “Doug Dog” and his girlfriend’s name in a police database that showed prior interactions with them. The officer who chased him on foot also identified him by his BMV photo two days later.
Court records show that Wright does not have any prior offenses or convictions as an adult in Mahoning County.
The Tuesday police report does not state where and when Wright was arrested or his whereabouts since the incident.