Stolen Police Van Pursuit Ends in Crash, Arrest

1/26/01

ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. - A small-time thief described by police as a
known drug user racked up a long list of felony charges Thursday when
he attacked a sheriffs deputy, escaped in a stolen police van and then
crashed it into a tree during a police pursuit.

The incident began after Jobe Edward Gasiorowski, 29, was being driven
back to the Oakland County Jail after his arraignment on a theft charge 
for allegedly stealing $700 worth of baby formula.

About 12:30 p.m., Gasiorowski slipped free from his belly-chain cuffs,
reached over the seat and began choking the transport deputy with the
seat belt, according to Oakland County Sheriffs Capt. Michael McCabe.

When the deputy began having chest pains, Gasiorowski climbed over
the seat to the front of the unmarked police van and fled out 
the front door.

Another prisoner being transported to the jail was left behind, 
still chained in seat of the van.

Sitting nearby in his patrol car, Deputy Michael Carolin saw the escape. He 
tracked the suspect to a nearby store, where Gasiorowski attempted to flee in  
a stolen pickup truck. When Carolin fired several shots at the truck and flattened  
a tire, the truck crashed into a snow bank near the police van.

"Gasiorowski then jumped back into the van and drove off south onto Rochester
 Road," McCabe said.

By 4 p.m., deputies from the Oakland County Sheriff  Department's substation
in the Royal Oak Township spotted the van. Following the van into Detroit, the 
deputies attempted to stop it near McNichols, but it sped off.

A short time later, Gasiorowski lost control of the van and crashed into a tree
and then a lawyer's office.

Gasiorowski was uninjured and officers arrested him at Wyoming and McNichols. 
The other prisoner was still shacked in the back of the van.

The deputy that Gasiorowski attacked was listed in serious condition at Pontiac
Osteopathic Hospital.

McCabe said Gasiorowski would be charged with numerous felony charges.

Backup news staff writer Debby Mongeau

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