Brackenridge man to stand trial on charges of speeding while high with kids in car

A Brackenridge man has been ordered to stand trial on accusations he was smoking pot while driving with two kids in a car and then tried to elude arrest when a state trooper clocked him going 90 mph on Route 28 in Harmar.

Thompson was being detained in the Allegheny County Jail in lieu of a $5,000 cash bond. During the preliminary hearing, Sosovicka increased Thompson’s bail to a $25,000 cash bond to await formal arraignment in Allegheny County Court on Dec. 21, court records show.

A state trooper wrote in a criminal complaint that he was monitoring traffic Oct. 25 along Route 28 when Thompson’s Kia Rio was clocked by radar going 90 mph in a 55 mph zone.

The trooper followed the Kia as it exited at RIDC Park in Harmar and as it sped through the industrial park and drove through a pedestrian walkway and onto Freeport Road, the complaint said. The road from RIDC Park down to Freeport Road is steep and has several sharp curves.

The chase ended on Freeport Road in Blawnox after Thompson’s vehicle became partially disabled, police said.

The trooper said there were two children in the vehicle and he could smell a strong odor of burnt marijuana. Thompson allowed the trooper to search the car, where they found a pack of cigar wrappers and several packages of marijuana, the complaint said.

In November 2021, Harrison police charged Thompson with a felony count of aggravated assault after, officials say, an officer was kneed in the head while trying to take him into custody during a domestic dispute. He also was charged with making terroristic threats, obstruction of justice, resisting arrest and prohibited acts, according to court records.

In May 2022, Thompson pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of making terroristic threats. He was sentenced to nine months of probation in connection with the case, court records show.