WHITEHALL, Ohio (WCMH) — Newly released dash camera footage from Whitehall Police shows yet another stolen car chase with a violent ending.
This incident happened Sunday, with police saying the driver tried to escape and instead crashed the truck into a house.
Whitehall Police Sgt. Jon Earl said the drivers of these stolen cars have no regard for public safety. He said this incident could’ve had a different ending, but thankfully, no one was hurt.
Police said flock cameras first pinged the stolen car around 9 a.m. Within minutes, the driver, 37-year-old Timothy Sharp, pulled up behind police at a red light on East Broad Street.
Dash camera footage shows the officers try to block Sharp in and then ask him to get out of the truck. Instead, the truck speeds off, driving through parking lots, police said.
The officers followed him for not even a minute before the truck crashed into a home on Santa Maria Lane. In the video, people inside the house can be heard screaming, terrified about what happened.
“What I always say is these stolen cars, these people aren’t just out driving stolen cars; they’re usually committing other crimes or using that vehicle to commit other crimes, and that’s the real dangerous part of it,” Earl said. “On top of the fact that they drive like this, you know, they’re driving 90 miles an hour. They’re running through red lights.”
Whitehall Police said the flock camera system first pinged the stolen truck. Earl said this technology has been a game changer.
“It’s been unbelievable,” he said. “I know I mentioned that, you know, it’s almost quadrupled all recovered stolen vehicles or stolen vehicle calls that we’ve run on. And, you know, you don’t have to be actively out pursuing. You can literally just get a little email or text message that says, ‘Hey, there’s a stolen car driving in your city.'”
Sharp is facing felony charges for receiving stolen property and failure to comply with a police officer.