Man jailed after 2 carjackings and double kidnapping

A Dayton man wanted in connection to a police pursuit that involved two carjackings and the kidnapping of two children is in the Montgomery County Jail, three days after police attempted to stop the suspect’s car driving at high speed on Interstate 75.

Bryon Finklea Jr., 24, of Dayton, is being held on initial misdemeanor charges of obstructing official business and domestic violence, along with out-of-county warrants. He was arrested at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at a house in Dayton by police and the U.S. Marshal’s Southern Ohio Fugitive Apprehension Team.

He will be transferred to the Warren County Jail and is expected to face kidnapping, robbery and fleeing and eluding charges, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

Police were looking for Finklea after a pursuit that started at about 11:30 a.m. Saturday on southbound I-75 near Franklin Twp. An OSHP pilot saw Finklea’s blue Kia Niro driving around 100 mph and alerted troopers; however, when they tried to stop the car, he fled.

From there, troopers said that Finklea got off the highway in Monroe near state Route 63, letting a passenger out in a Kroger parking lot. He then continued east on state Route 63 before the car became disabled in Turtlecreek Twp.

Finklea then carjacked a man driving a Chevrolet Malibu, which had two children in the back seat. He then drove off with the children still inside, the OSHP reported.

The children were let out of the vehicle separately in the cities of Lebanon and Mason, where they were secured by police unharmed.

The pursuit then continued south into West Chester Twp., where troopers said Finklea crashed into another vehicle, got out of the Malibu, and carjacked a Ford Edge driven by a 16-year-old from Franklin.

After the Edge fled the scene and went north on I-75, law enforcement called off the pursuit due to speed and the amount of traffic. The stolen SUV was later found in a Dayton neighborhood.

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