Watch: Orange officers catch suspect in stolen U-Haul truck
ORANGE, Ohio (WJW) – Newly released video shows a wild scene that unfolded at Pinecrest on April 19, when Orange police officers confronted a man in a stolen U-Haul truck.
On police body camera video of the incident in the parking lot of the Whole Foods Market, an officer is heard shouting, “step out of the car, step out of the car,” and the suspect is heard responding, “why?”
An officer then noted, “he’s turning it on right now,” and shouted, “get out of the car, get out of the car!”
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But the suspect refused to comply with officers’ commands and pulled forward, crashing into three police SUVs and a customer’s car.
At that point, officers had the truck blocked in with their vehicles, but the suspect kept gunning the engine and putting the truck into drive and then reverse in a desperate attempt to break free.
As the truck’s engine revved and the tires spun in place, officers told the suspect that his attempt to get away was hopeless.
One patrolman shouted, “you’re stuck, get out of the car, bro, it’s over. It’s over!”
When he finally realized the truck was not going anywhere, the man behind the wheel got out of the vehicle and made a run for it.
The video shows that 55-year-old Michael Duane Frost of Maple Heights did not get far, falling to the ground after being jolted with a taser.
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After he was handcuffed, one of the officers asked Frost, “was that smart?”
Investigators say Frost was taken to Ahuja Medical Center as a precaution and later released. He is now facing charges that include receiving stolen property, criminal damaging and failure to comply with the order of a police officer.
Court records reveal that at the time of his attempt to evade police in the stolen truck, Frost was the target of an indictment filed earlier this year, charging him with felonious assault and strangulation.
During an arraignment hearing on May 2, Frost pleaded not guilty to the charges associated with the incident in Orange, and the judge set his bond at $10,000.
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