A man who was involved in a high-speed police pursuit on Aug. 27 T-boned a vehicle with two young children, drove through a construction zone and sped the opposite direction on a one-way street, according to Cincinnati police.
Demetrice Cook, 41, did not attend a hearing Aug. 28 in Hamilton County Municipal Court, where Judge Michael Peck set bond at $550,000.
Three people were taken into custody Thursday after the chase and crash, according to Cincinnati police. It is unclear whether the other two people were arrested, according to Cincinnati police spokesman Brad Underwood.
The pursuit began after the vehicle was flagged as being connected to a homicide investigation, Underwood said.
Cook has been charged with multiple counts of aggravated vehicular
assault. Cincinnati Police Officer Benjamin Farwick said in court Friday that Cook is a suspect in an ongoing homicide investigation.
Caleb Baum, Cook's defense attorney, said his client denied the allegations. It is unclear if anyone has been charged in connection to the homicide investigation and if the denial referred to vehicular assault charges or the homicide.
Baum said that Cook was in the process of interviewing to become a janitor. According to court records, Cook has an extensive criminal record in Hamilton County starting at least 23 years ago.
The chase went through Walnut Hills, Mount Auburn and Over-the-Rhine before ending, Assistant Hamilton County Prosecutor Megan Ferguson said in court. Cook sped through a construction zone where workers were present, Ferguson said, before crashing into another vehicle.
At one point in the chase, Cook raced down Central Parkway, near the Hamilton County Courthouse, Farwick said. According to an Enquirer reporter who observed the chase unfolding on Central Parkway, the car's headlight was damaged. The body of the car showed scrapes along the side, and the passenger door hanging open.
In total, Underwood said that there were three crashes related to the pursuit: Cook's vehicle crashed into another vehicle Downtown, two police cruisers collided with each other in Queensgate and then Cook's vehicle T-boned into the final vehicle in East Price Hill.
Two children ages 1 and 2 were among the three occupants of the T-boned vehicle taken to the hospital on Aug. 27. Two police officers were also hospitalized. None of the injuries were considered life-threatening, Underwood said.
"The more important portion of it is the wrong-way of driving," Farwick said. "He went the wrong way, right here in front of the courthouse on Main Street, probably doing 60, 70 miles per hour at 1:45 p.m. in the afternoon, "Which is probably one of the busiest hours Downtown."
A grand jury is expected to convene by Sept. 8.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Man accused of fleeing police in Cincinnati, hitting car carrying children
