Mary Alice Reporting – Two vehicles were taken Thursday morning and a high-speed pursuit ended with one vehicle crashing and the other going into Coshocton County.
U.S. 36 was shut down for more than an hour after a single-vehicle accident where the car went off the roadway and hit a utility pole, causing over 1,000 AEP customers to be without power.
Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Office Detective Captain Adam Fisher says the vehicles were in the Insurance Auto Auctions lot, with the theft occurring around 8:15 a.m. Thursday.
“Upon their employees opening the fence to the yard, two vehicles sped out and fled the area. Obviously, we were immediately on the attempt to locate the vehicles. We were able to locate them and a pursuit ensued.”
One car crashed between Gnadenhutten and Port Washington, near Robin Road, with a release issued by Sheriff Orvis Campbell stating that 28-year-old Lamine Mohamed Conde was identified as the driver involved in the incident.
“The vehicles that crashed here in Tuscarawas County appears to have at least one occupant that was transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries.”
He was treated and released, and is now being held at the Tuscarawas County Justice Center, with charges pending. Conde claimed that he had a second suspect with him who fled after the crash, but detectives and deputies do not believe there was a passenger in the car upon further investigation.
Campbell’s statement notes that the Dodge Charger Scat Pack that Conde stole was traveling at speeds of up to 163 miles per hour when it went off the road and crashed.
Outside of that crash, a second vehicle that was stolen, a gray Chevy Camaro, was seen traveling westbound in Newcomerstown and continued into Coshocton County.
Fisher explains that the other vehicle was located near the Coshocton Walmart, unoccupied. No details have been available from the Coshocton Sheriff’s Office if a suspect has been located at this time.
Conde now faces charges of felony auto theft, fleeing and eluding, and several other charges related to traffic violations and trespassing.
The Gnadenhutten, Dennison, Uhrichsville, and Newcomerstown Police Departments all assisted in the pursuit, along with the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the Coshocton County Sheriff’s Office.
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