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First Posted: 11/7/2014 WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Three people are in custody after police pursued a vehicle through Hanover Township and South Wilkes-Barre, concluding with a three-vehicle crash that left two people injured on Friday.
Following the approximately 10-minute pursuit, which ended around 4:25 p.m., the vehicle police were chasing &#8212; a red Dodge Nitro &#8212; crashed with a red Hyundai Elantra and a white Toyota Corolla at the intersection of Market and River streets in Wilkes-Barre.
A witness said she saw three people emerge from the vehicle being pursued.
Wilkes-Barre police confirmed at about 6:15 p.m. Friday that three were taken into custody from the fleeing vehicle, and that the drivers of the two vehicles not involved in the pursuit were taken to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Plains Township.
Wilkes-Barre police referred all questions on the pursuit and arrests to Hanover Township police.
Hanover Township police said early Friday evening that they didn&#8217;t have time to immediately release any details via phone but were in the process of preparing information for release later that night. No details were made available prior to press time.
Township police did, however, confirm that one of the suspects taken into custody was Douglas Johnson.
Online magisterial court records indicate that Ashley borough police charged Douglas Johnson, 52, with felony counts of robbery and conspiracy, and that he was arraigned on those charges before on-duty District Judge David Barilla at 5:32 p.m. in Swoyersville.
Unable to post $100,000 bail, Johnson was jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility to await his preliminary hearing at 9:30 a.m. Nov. 18 before District Judge Joseph Halesey in Hanover Township.
Ashley police announced on Oct. 25 that they were searching for Johnson and another man involved in a strong-arm robbery of an elderly woman around noon that day on North Main Street.
Police said the other suspect, described as white male, between 35 and 40, approximately 6 feet tall, with a thick beard, grabbed the woman&#8217;s purse as she was entering her vehicle. The woman fought back and witnesses chased the suspect, but he got into a car and fled.
Johnson was already facing criminal charges in connection with a vehicle arson last year in Nanticoke.
Nanticoke police were dispatched to 278 E. Union St. for a vehicle fire at 9:51 p.m. on Nov. 20, 2013. On-scene, police found a vehicle fully engulfed in flames. The vehicle was owned by Dominick Toback and Jennifer Glushefski. Toback was trying to extinguish the fire with a garden hose. The vehicle was a total loss, police said in a criminal complaint.
Toback told police he was in his bedroom when he heard a loud bang, looked out his window and saw Johnson smash one of the car windows and throw something lit on fire inside the vehicle. Toback said Johnson was in a dark-color SUV and that he could see Johnson clearly because the interior light of the SUV was on, according to the court records.
Johnson had been charged with two counts of arson, criminal mischief, use of incendiary devices and recklessly endangering another person. Unable to post $100,000 bail, he was jailed at the county jail until his bail was later eliminated and he was released on his own recognizance, court records show.
Times Leader reporter James O&#8217;Malley contributed to this report.