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Article published September 1, 2010
SUSPECT NABBED Police arrest driver after 75-mile chase
A 75-mile police chase during which speeds reached 130 mph ended Sunday morning with an Allegheny County man locked up in the Butler County Prison. John James Joseph, 31, of Leetsdale also left behind extensive collateral damage in the pursuit that covered three counties and involved at least four police departments. Several motorists were hit or run off the highway and a trooper broke his hand trying to arrest Joseph after the suspect crashed his 2005 Jaguar sedan into a bridge abutment in Allegheny County. Joseph suffered bumps and bruises but was otherwise uninjured. He faces numerous felony charges. Investigators do not know what prompted the defendant to take the wild ride. However, Joseph insisted to police he had a monkey in his car he couldn't get out. Later, during arraignment, he claimed to be an Internet porn model. The bizarre case began about 6 a.m. when a Jackson Township police officer in southern Butler County came upon Joseph's car on the Interstate 79 northbound ramp near Exit 85. The car was parked and its flashing emergency lights were on, police said. Officer Vaughn Pulgini stopped and asked Joseph if he needed help. But for some unknown reason, Joseph became angry with Pulgini's offer of assistance. "The suspect got out of his car and approached the officer in a very rapid and aggressive manner," said Township Police Chief Len Keller. Pulgini told Joseph: "Stay back. Stay back. Calm down." But Joseph's behavior grew only stranger. "The defendant started shouting and pointing at his vehicle stating there was a monkey inside his vehicle and he needed to get it out," according to court documents. Concerned for his safely, Pulgini fired his Taser at Joseph, who was dressed in a white T-shirt and shorts. But just one of the Taser's two electrical probes hit the suspect's torso "He grabbed the prong and ripped it out," Keller said." He got into his vehicle and took off." The chase was on. Before long, Jackson police were joined by troopers and police in Evans City and Cranberry Township in trying to stop Joseph's car, northbound on I-79. Police said Joseph turned off his lights in an apparent attempt to avoid capture during the dark-to-dawn chase. He also ran several vehicles, including a motorcycle, off the road, documents said. He got all the way into Mercer County not far from the Prime Outlets before making a crossover maneuver, and then headed south on I-79. Troopers several times laid down stop sticks, but to no avail, a police affidavit said. During the southbound chase at 6:44 a.m., Joseph's car hit a motorcycle and an arm of the cyclist. About two miles later, the car struck a pickup truck. Three miles after hitting the truck, Joseph's car lost its right front tire, which flew over the hood of a state police car, smashing out the cruiser's rear window. Three more miles down the highway, another state police cruiser drove around the suspect's car in preparation for a rolling road block. But Joseph rammed the left rear end of the cruiser, police said. The police car hit the back of Joseph's car, causing him to lose control of his vehicle. The cruiser with the smashed out rear window cut in front of the Jaguar and rammed its right front side, stopping the suspect's car into a bridge abutment about 6:50 a.m. near Heidelberg in Allegheny County. Joseph opened the driver's door, which struck the side of the other cruiser. He ran over the hood of that police car and dashed south on the highway. During a struggle with police, Trooper Stephen Rodgers broke his left hand and Trooper Patrick Thomas injured his back. Two other troopers also suffered unknown injuries. During his video arraignment at 4 p.m., Joseph told District Judge Lewis Stoughton he has been employed as an Internet porn model for five years. He also told Stoughton at one point that he heard the voice of his stepmother. Joseph, who has a lengthy criminal record for theft-related and other crimes in Allegheny, Westmoreland and Crawford counties, was placed in the Butler County Prison on $100,000 cash bail. He faces multiple counts of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, resisting arrest, fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, simple assault, disorderly conduct, criminal mischief and numerous traffic violation Joseph is on probation stemming from a 2007 burglary conviction in Allegheny County Court.
