Police used a thermal drone to find a wanted man who escaped an arrest attempt despite being tased in Harrison on Friday, according to the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office.
Brandon Montae Wheeler, 29, of Harrison and previously of Penn Hills, was arrested on eight outstanding warrants, including two bench warrants and six active arrest warrants, the sheriff’s office said.
In June, Wheeler led officers from Ross and Franklin Park on a high-speed chase up Interstate 79 North into Cranberry, the sheriff’s office said. The chase ended when Wheeler’s vehicle hit another vehicle near the turnpike interchange.
Wheeler ran away.
Detectives learned this week Wheeler was staying at an apartment building in the 2500 block of Freeport Road in Harrison, the sheriff’s office said. Detectives approached the building and formed a perimeter around it.
After getting no response at the apartment door, detectives forced their way inside. Wheeler went out a back window, where detectives confronted him, the sheriff’s office said.
Despite being hit by a Taser, Wheeler fled on foot, with detectives pursuing him on foot and in vehicles before forming a second perimeter around a wooded area off of Sylvan Avenue.
Detectives deployed a drone with a thermal camera and picked up a heat signature from Wheeler, the sheriff’s office said. He was found hiding behind a tree near a creek bed, where he was taken into custody without further incident, checked by medics and taken to the Allegheny County Jail.
In addition to charges in six active warrants, Wheeler faces new charges of evading arrest, resisting arrest and flight to avoid apprehension.
