A Ross man is behind bars after a high-speed police chase Saturday from New Kensington to the Pittsburgh Mills mall with a woman and her 7-year-old son in the car.

Charges against William Joseph Anick, 62, include kidnapping a minor, unlawful restraint of a minor, receiving stolen property, endangering the welfare of a child, reckless endangerment, resisting arrest and evading arrest.

At 3:20 p.m. Saturday, a New Kensington police officer was on Tarentum Bridge Road when he noticed a white Ford Escape stolen out of Leechburg, according to a criminal complaint.

The officer got behind the vehicle in the left turning lane to enter the Giant Eagle parking lot, and the vehicle made an abrupt left turn, crossing the Tarentum Bridge, the complaint said. The officer tried to initiate a stop, but the Ford Escape, driven by Anick, continued at a high rate of speed, weaving through traffic, the complaint said.

During the pursuit, the officer saw a woman in the front passenger seat, who was waving her arms outside the window “in what appeared to be her asking for help,” the complaint said.

The vehicle got on Route 28 southbound and exited at the Pittsburgh Mills exit, the complaint said. The woman continued to wave, and the officer saw a small child in the back seat of the vehicle, the complaint said.

At the Mills, Anick turned into the Macy’s parking lot and continued to drive recklessly, police said. The car stopped, and Anick ran away from the car, police said. Officers told him to stop, but he continued to run, police said. A police K-9 was sent after Anick and bit him near the Chili’s restaurant, where police were able to arrest him, the complaint said.

Anick was taken to Allegheny Valley Hospital, and the vehicle was towed. There were no firearms or contraband inside the car, the complaint said.

Police spoke with the woman in the vehicle, who told officers she did not know what was going on and was begging Anick to stop because her 7-year-old son was also in the car, the complaint said.

She told police that Anick was a friend and they were going to a water park in Tarentum, but Anick started to go the wrong way, according to the complaint.

The woman said she was pleading with Anick to stop and pull over, but he would just drive faster, the complaint said. She recalled the car going as fast as 100 mph, running red lights and passing vehicles. Anick wouldn’t let the woman or her child out of the car, which is why she waved her arms out the window for police to help, she told officers, according to the complaint.

She said she was unaware the vehicle was stolen before getting into it and assumed Anick had borrowed the car from a friend, police said.

Anick was unable to make $250,000 bail and is being held in the Westmoreland County jail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled July 31 before District Judge Frank J. Pallone Jr.

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