Miami County man jailed a er chase

A Miami County man sought on a warrant is in jail after a high-speed pursuit that began near Tipp City ended in Vandalia in the parking lot of a business, Miami County sheriff ’s Sgt. Chris Bobb said Tuesday.

Brandon Cantrell, 37, had been wanted on charges for gross sexual imposition and sexual battery filed in Miami County Common Pleas Court. Detectives working the case on Cantrell received a tip from a private citizen that Cantrell would be in the area of South County Road 25A and East Shoop Road, Bobb said. A sheriff ’s unit spotted a 2007 Chevy Cobalt in the area of East Evanston Road and County Road 25 A that Cantrell was believed to be driving and pulled in behind the vehicle about 3:51 p.m.

The car sped off, headed east on Evanston and then south on South Tipp Cowlesville Road, Bobb said.

The pursuit, which reached 85 mph, continued into Vandalia until Cantrell pulled into the parking lot of a Coldwell Banker real estate office, in the 300 block of North Dixie Drive.

There, sheriff ’s deputies and Vandalia police hemmed Cantrell’s car in the lot. He was taken into custody, at gunpoint, about 3:57 p.m., Bobb said.

Sheriff’s investigators had been looking for Cantrell since the warrant was issued July 21, Bobb said, and they had information that Cantrell had been spending time in West Virginia, Kentucky and Troy.

Cantrell was being booked into the Miami County Jail on Tuesday night, where he will be detained pending the filing of formal charges stemming from the pursuit.