BOTKINS — Police are looking for a young man who allegedly ditched a stolen Michigan vehicle he was driving, stole another vehicle and fled police on foot Monday afternoon.
According to Botkins Police Chief Tom Glass, police are seeking a light complexion, possibly bi-racial male, who appears to be approximately 5-foot, 9-inches tall, 160 pounds, and was last seen wearing jeans and a black and red T-shirt.
Glass said he received a report on Monday, July 1, at 12:31 p.m. to be on the look out for a stolen silver Chrysler 200 four-door sedan from Michigan after the Wapakoneta Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol advised agencies that a male was looking in several vehicles at a Lowe’s Home Improvement store.
Glass said Botkins Police began to search the village of Botkins for the Chrysler 200 and found the stolen vehicle abandoned at the Budget Host Inn on East State Street in Botkins. He said the silver car was seen on video surveillance leaving the Circle K gas station after the driver failed to obtain gas, then went across the street to the Budget Host Inn.
At the hotel, the driver ditched the silver car after finding an unlocked, red Chrysler PT Cruiser with the keys inside.
The driver had at 30 minute jump on Botkins Police, Glass said, before the stolen Michigan vehicle was found. The driver then headed south on Interstate 75 before Troy Police located the PT Cruiser in Troy. The driver fled Troy Police on foot inside the Walmart store on state Route 41 in Troy.
