Two county teens were arrested Thursday afternoon, June 12, in separate incidents in West Mansfield.
Charles Neer, 17, of West Liberty, was arrested for failure to comply with an order or signal of a police officer, a fourth-degree felony.
Deputies of the Logan County Sheriff’s Office responded about 5:20 p.m. to a complaint of a dirt bike operator driving recklessly in the village.
Deputies located a red dirt bike traveling eastbound on Center Street through the traffic light at Main Street. Moments later, the bike was observed traveling the opposite direction on Center Street with two riders.
Deputies, traveling west on Center Street, motioned and verbally commanded for the bike operator to pull over, but were ignored.
The bike accelerated past the sheriff vehicle’s position, and a male rider got off the bike before its operator continued eastbound on Center Street. The bike then ran a red light signal and turned south onto Main Street.
Law enforcement activated lights and sirens and pursued the bike, which reportedly traveled approximately 65 mph in a 35 mph zone on Main Street out of village limits onto County Road 142.
The bike traveled about a mile before experiencing apparent engine trouble, slowing and eventually pulling into a driveway in the 700 block of C.R. 142 N.
The operator, Neer, was taken into custody.
He was transported to the Central Ohio Youth Center in Marysville.
The dirt bike, a 2008 Honda CFR150R, was towed from the scene and impounded.
Then about 5:45 p.m., a tow truck operator arrived at the C.R. 142 scene and alerted deputies of several dirt bikes riding around the village.
Deputies observed several dirt bikes congregated in a driveway along south Main Street, and exited to their patrol vehicle to talk to the riders about reckless operation of the bikes at excessive speeds.
Music was heard playing from the rear of the Main Street home where deputies found five teens — four males and one female — playing apparent drinking games with beer.
When asking for their ages and identifications, one of the males, Colin Hill of West Mansfield, initially told deputies he was 21 and later said he was 23 or 24. Further identification checks revealed he is only 18.
Hill reportedly told deputies he obtained the alcohol from his mother.
He was arrested for misdemeanor offenses of falsification and furnishing alcohol to a minor and lodged in the Logan County Jail.