Man who fled faces felonies for tearing up bean field during chase by Parks Township police

Parks Township police say a man who was caught after fleeing from a traffic stop will face multiple felony charges, including two for tearing up a bean field with his car.

John Jacob Kemerer, of Vandergrift was charged with two felony counts each of fleeing from police and drug possession and a count each of possession of drugs with the intent to deliver, agricultural vandalism and agricultural crop destruction.

Police also charged him with a third offense for driving with a DUI-suspended license and issued nine citations, including one for traveling on cultivated land.

Kemerer was being detained in the Armstrong County Jail in lieu of a $25,000 cash bond. He faces a preliminary hearing Wednesday, Oct. 26, before District Judge James Andring.

A police officer responding to an Oct. 12 car accident on Route 66 near Gravel Bar Road said he spotted Kemerer behind the wheel of a Chevrolet Cobalt at a stop sign, according to a criminal complaint.

The officer turned around and pulled behind Kemerer’s car because he has a suspended license from two previous convictions for driving under the influence, the complaint said.

Kemerer took off when he saw the officer get out of his cruiser and drove along the berm of the road to get past vehicles that were stopped in both directions because of the accident and nearby road construction, police said.

He eluded an Apollo police officer who tried to stop him along Route 66 and continued driving for about 10 minutes until stopping in a field along Airport Road, the complaint said.

During the pursuit, Kemerer drove along Garvers Ferry Road onto Stitts Run Road, which was closed.

He then drove across a creek to the other side of Stitts Run before getting on Airport Road.

The chase ended when he drove his car into a bean field near a former airfield.

Kemerer was held at gunpoint until additional officers arrived, police said.

Police said they found a baggie of crystal meth in the pocket of his hooded sweatshirt and two more bags of the drug in a glass jar between the seat and center console.

Two tablets of the sedative benzodiazepine also were found in the jar, according to investigators.

Kemerer had outstanding warrants from the Kiski Township and Kittanning police departments at the time of his arrest.

After being taken into custody, Kemerer was transported to ACMH Hospital in East Franklin to be treated for pain from a broken arm and the amputation of his left leg that he suffered as the result of a previous crash, police said.

Kemerer was seriously injured in early July and airlifted to a hospital after colliding with a truck along Route 30 in Ligonier Township while riding a motorcycle.

During the crash investigation, police said they seized several grams of suspected methamphetamine, 10 stamp bags of suspected heroin and a baggie of marijuana from him. They also discovered that Kemerer was in possession of a handgun that had no serial number, police said.

Kemerer is a convicted felon and cannot possess a firearm, police said. Kemerer was driving the motorcycle with a DUI suspended license and and expired plate, they said.

He also was among three people who were arrested in Vandergrift in 2017 following a high-speed chase and charged with drug possession.