New Kensington man charged with fleeing traffic stop was wanted for skipping trial

A New Kensington man wanted on multiple arrest warrants is accused of fleeing in a vehicle to avoid arrest after the woman who was driving pulled over and surrendered to police.

Zion Ethan Lee Wright, 23, of the 1300 block of Victoria Avenue was charged Aug. 18 with felony counts of fleeing from police and flight to avoid apprehension. He also was charged with resisting arrest, marijuana possession and causing an accident that damaged a vehicle. In addition, he was issued traffic citations for reckless driving, driving with a suspended license and driving without insurance.

Wright was being detained in the Westmoreland County jail after a judge ruled he is a flight risk and denied bail. He faces a preliminary hearing Sept. 21 before District Judge Frank J. Pallone Jr.

Investigators wrote in a criminal complaint that state narcotics agents were working undercover Aug. 19 in the 1900 block of Victoria Avenue in Arnold in response to complaints from neighbors about drug dealing at one of the homes.

Wright, who is wanted by the Alle­gheny County Sheriff’s Office, was spotted by drug agents getting into the passenger seat of a Jeep SUV with a woman driving, the complaint said.

Police said they followed the car for several blocks before pulling it over for having its insurance suspended.

The woman driving the SUV ignored officers’ orders for her to stay in the car and instead got out and put her hands up, police said.

When she did, Wright crawled over the center console into the driver’s seat and took off, according to the complaint.

Officers chased the Jeep down Leishman Avenue onto Kenneth Avenue, where it drove through the yard of a home onto Proctor Alley and sideswiped a parked Cadillac, police said.

Wright continued onto North Street, Equator Alley and into the yard of a home in the 1300 block of Victoria, where the Jeep’s front bumper was torn off as it went up a hill before getting stuck, the complaint said.

Officers held Wright at gunpoint until he could be handcuffed, police said. Three packets of marijuana were found in his pocket when he was searched, according to the complaint.

Wright told police he was heading “home, or somewhere to jump out,” when he fled from police, the complaint said.

Court records show Wright is awaiting trial on a 2019 charge filed by Pittsburgh police of carrying a firearm without a license.

Formal arraignment in Allegheny County Court was scheduled for October 2019, according to the docket, which also shows Wright failed to appear for preliminary hearings on three sets of charges filed by New Kensington police.

Preliminary hearings for these charges also will be held before Pallone on Sept. 21:

• May 6: three misdemeanor counts of making terroristic threats, counts of disorderly conduct, simple assault and harassment.

• March 18: two misdemeanor counts of making terroristic threats, counts of harassment, theft and simple assault.

• Jan. 9, 2021: felony count of strangulation, counts of simple assault and criminal mischief.