By Tom Hardesty

Stow police were involved in two late-night, high-speed chases just five days apart late last month, with both chases reaching speeds of about 100 mph.

The second of the two chases, on March 25, ended with the arrest of the suspect following the pursuit of an SUV that began around 11 p.m. on Route 8 in Cuyahoga Falls, crossed into Stow and ended up back in Falls.

The suspect, identified only as a 20-year-old woman from Akron, crashed the SUV she was driving three times during the chase. The second of those crashes injured Stow police officer Nicholas Flasco when the woman purposely rammed the SUV into Flasco’s cruiser at the Steels Corners Road exit in Stow. Nevertheless, Flasco managed to continue the chase until the SUV crashed for the third and final time into a wooded area off State Road in Cuyahoga Falls.

The driver was arrested and taken to the Summit County Jail, where she was charged with felonious assault, vandalism and failure to comply.

“If somebody shows that they’re unwilling to stop and willing to strike police cars, that’s obviously a dangerous situation that we need to address,” Stow Police Captain Bryan Snavely told Channel 5 News in Cleveland.

Just five days before, early on the morning of March 20, Stow police were involved in the chase of two cars stolen from the Mazda dealership at 1127 W. Main St. in Kent near the Stow border. According to Kent police, thieves broke into the Mazda dealership by smashing a bay door and stole a 2020 purple Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and an Infiniti Q60.

Stow police, who had been alerted to the situation, then spotted and chased a purple Dodge Challenger and a white Infiniti Q60 down Graham Road in Stow at the same time that Kent police were investigating the break-in at the Mazda dealership. The chase eventually reached speeds of 100 mph before the officer stopped the pursuit after a minute and a half due to the excessive speed.

Police are still searching for the suspects. If you have any information, contact the Kent Police Department at 330-673-7732.