Sign up for one of our email newsletters.
Updated 45 minutes ago
Rescue boats were back on the Allegheny River Friday morning to resume the search for a man police saw jump from the New Kensington Bridge late Thursday night.
Boats from area fire departments are searching down river from the bridge in areas adjacent to New Kensington, Plum and East Deer.
Officials had suspended the search at about 3 a.m. Friday for the man police say first lead them on a chase before crashing the car he was driving and jumping from the bridge.
The incident started at about 11:45 p.m. Thursday when police noticed a car driving down the Route 28 exit ramp (Exit 13) at Crawford Run Road at high speed, East Deer police Chief John Manchini said.
The driver turned into the Sheetz parking lot along Freeport Road but drove off when officers tried to intercept him, police said, sparking a high speed chase that led to the bridge.
Officers involved in the chase reported that the man threw something out of the car's window during the chase, which Manchini said were illegal drugs.
The car crashed into the bridge abutment. The driver fled across the bridge on foot and jumped over the side into the river, police said.
An officer saw the man splash into the water and resurface. Officers saw the driver swimming away but eventually lost sight of him in the darkness, police said.
Matthew Medsger is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-226-4675 or mmedsger@tribweb.com.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
