Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Oxford man arrested following high-speed chase
An Oxford man was arrested on drug charges after he led police on a high-speed pursuit in New Garden Township.
Christopher Cerrato, , of Oxford was arrested and charged with possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and related Act 64 offenses, as well as with fleeing or attempting to elude police, resisting arrest, accidents involving damage to unattended vehicle or property, recklessly endangering another person, tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, DUI (Controlled Substances) disorderly conduct and numerous related traffic offenses.
Police said that on Jan. 23 at 9:41 p.m., police were monitoring traffic at the intersection of Newark Road and West Baltimore Pike when they observed a 2007 Toyota
turn in front of an oncoming vehicle and nearly cause an accident.
Police attempted to catch up to the vehicle but it accelerated at a high rate of speed and ignored police sirens and visual warning signals from the pursuing police vehicle. The operator, later determined to be Cerrato, lost control of the vehicle, as it approached the intersection of West Baltimore Pike and Thompson Road.
The vehicle left the roadway, hit a curb, and then collided with an unoccupied, parked car in the lot of the Sunoco A-Plus. Cerrato and his front seat passenger exited the vehicle and fled the scene on foot. Police gave foot chase and apprehended Cerrato, in a
wooded area several hundred yards from the crash.
Cerrato, police said, exhibited indicators suggesting intoxication, including having a white powdery substance in and around his nose. Field sobriety tests were administered and confirmed impairment.
Cerrato was given an opportunity to submit to a chemical test of his blood but refused. A search of his vehicle produced suspected cocaine, individually packaged baggies of marijuana, cash, and related contraband.
While seated in the rear of the patrol car, Cerrato slipped one of his hands out of the handcuffs. When police removed him to resecure his hands, they recovered additional baggies of suspected cocaine. Cerrato was processed and was transported to Chester County Prison in lieu of posting $50,000 bail.