An off-duty Fairlawn police officer is accused of leading his colleagues on a pursuit when they tried to pull him over for suspected speeding.
Police said the off-duty officer, Justin Herstich, 33, was going 77 mph in a 35-mph zone while traveling westbound on West Market Street near the intersection of Shiawassee Avenue at about 2 a.m. May 7.
According to a police report, an on-duty police officer made a U-turn, activated the overhead lights and sirens on the cruiser and attempted to stop Herstich, who did not stop and instead continued westbound on West Market Street, passing through two red lights before turning north on Ghent Road.
“The vehicle remained at a high rate of speed while traveling on Ghent Road,” the report said.
A second officer joined the pursuit as the vehicle continued northbound on Ghent Road and turned eastbound on Smith Road, according to police. The SUV turned north into the residential neighborhood of Lake of the Woods in Akron, shut off the headlights and pulled into a private driveway.
Herstich was charged on Monday with failure to comply with police, reckless operation and speeding after the evidence was presented to the Akron Prosecutor’s Office for review.
His passenger in the vehicle, a fellow off-duty Fairlawn police officer and 16-year veteran of the department, was not charged.
Herstich could not be reached for comment Monday. A police department spokesperson said he had taken sick leave.
Fairlawn Police Chief Kenneth Walsh said the action was “completely out of character for the officer,” whom he described as reliable.
Herstich was hired part-time by the department in 2005 and became a full-time officer in 2007.
Walsh said the department will wait until after the case makes it way through the court system to determine what administrative action, if any, to take.
Herstich is expected to appear in Akron Municipal Court in June. No date has been set yet.
“We generally don’t do anything until the disposition of the court proceeding and at that time we’ll find out what he is found guilty of or what he would plead to and we’ll look at his general record too,” Walsh said. “We’ll take everything into account in a disciplinary hearing. But the main focus is have we had problems with him before, which we have not, and what happens to him in court.”
Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com.