Crash leads to stolen car, 18-year-old's arrest

UPDATE @ 5:50 p.m.: The crash on Pitsburg Laura Road that involved a stolen car led to the arrest of an 18-year-old male suspected of stealing the car after burglarizing a Dayton home.

Mychal Bergman is in the Darke County Jail pending the filing of a felony charge of receiving stolen property, sheriff's Sgt. Shawn Trissel said in a prepared statement Thursday afternoon, and deputies are working with Dayton police on pursuing additional charges stemming from the theft and burglary.

Bergman was arrested after he tried to run from deputies following the crash at about 12:30 p.m., just east of Gettysburg Pitsburg Road, that left the other driver, 51-year-old Patricia Nichols of Arcanum, suffering from minor injuries.

Trissel said a preliminary investigation revealed that Bergman was driving a Pontiac that pulled out of a driveway and hit Nichols' Jeep. She was taken to Wayne Hospital. He ran from the accident scene.

During the accident investigation, deputies learned the Pontiac had been reported stolen out of Dayton. Deputies set up a perimeter and dispatched the county K-9 unit to try to locate Bergman. Franklin Monroe School was put on lockdown as a precaution.

A sheriff's detective noticed a male matching Bergman's description walking along the edge of a woods west of the Village of Pitsburg. He ran when deputies approached, but they caught him after a short time later.

Bergman, during his interview with deputies, admitted to breaking into the occupied home in Dayton and stealing items, including the homeowner's Pontiac. Bergman was also in possession of other property stolen from a second location in Dayton.

FIRST REPORT: A man wanted in a stolen car case and fleeing the scene of an accident forced Franklin Monroe Schools to go on a modified lock down today.

The man was reportedly driving a white Sunfire involved in a crash on Pitsburg-Laura Rd., just east of Gettysburg-Pitsburg, when he was involved in a crash. The man allegedly fled on foot.

The Darke County Sheriff's Office confirms they were able to catch up and arrest the man on State Route 49. The DCSO dispatcher tells us the man was wanted for driving a stolen car. He has not yet been identified. We'll continue to follow up.

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