TAMAQUA - A borough man was jailed Monday and charged with assaulting his soon-to-be ex-wife, taking their son and leading police on a chase.
John J. Roberts, 42, of 114 Washington St., was arraigned by on-call Magisterial District Judge Christina E. Hale, Frackville, on one felony count of aggravated assault, four misdemeanor counts of recklessly endangering another person, one misdemeanor count each of fleeing or attempting to elude police, simple assault, disorderly conduct and endangering the welfare of children and one summary offense each of harassment, following too closely, failure to drive on roadways laned for traffic, driving on the wrong side of the road, driving at an unsafe speed, reckless driving and careless driving. He was committed to Schuylkill County Prison unable to post $50,000 bail set by Hale and will now have to answer to the charges at a preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge Stephen J. Bayer.
Tamaqua police Patrolman Matthew Houser said the incident began at Roberts' home about 4:55 p.m. He said he was called to the home for a report of a domestic assault and told by Danielle Roberts that her soon-to-be ex-husband was assaulting her and taking their son.
Upon arrival, Houser said there was a silver Toyota parked in front of the home with a man in the driver's seat and a boy hanging out of the back driver-side window screaming "Help!" Houser said it appeared the boy was crying, and that the boy was later identified as the Robertses' 8-year-old son.
Houser said he pulled in front of the car and ordered Roberts to stop, but Roberts drove onto the sidewalk and turned onto Franklin Street. Roberts continued driving west despite Houser activating his cruiser's emergency lights in an attempt to pull him over.
Roberts refused to stop and drove on several streets in the borough before ending back at his home, where he yelled to his son to get out of the car, Houser said. The boy was unable to get out since Roberts began to pull away and drive on numerous streets again before returning to the home. Upon return, the back door of the car opened and the boy ran to his mother, Houser said.
Roberts got out of the car and started to walk toward the police cruiser, and Houser said he drew his weapon and ordered Roberts to the ground. Roberts refused, got back into his vehicle and fled, Houser said.
Houser said Roberts drove through the borough at an estimated 50 mph and turned onto Route 209 west, where speeds reached between 85 and 90 mph.
During the pursuit, Houser said Roberts tried to run into the side of Patrolman Karl Harig's cruiser, cut across the road and went onto the grass and began driving through a running trail. Roberts drove about a mile on the running trail before he crashed into a tree, fled on foot and was taken into custody about 5:10 p.m., Houser said.