Woman charged with leading police on chase that ended with crash in New Kensington

A woman accused of leading police on a chase from Springdale until she crossed the New Kensington Bridge and wrecked has been charged with multiple felonies.

Rachel M. Mautino, 43, of New Kensington was charged by Springdale police with felony counts of fleeing to avoid apprehension, fleeing from police and identity theft.

She also faces 21 other charges related to the incident, including reckless endangerment, resisting arrest, driving while intoxicated and making false reports to law enforcement.

A date for a preliminary hearing on the charges has not been set.

A criminal complaint filed in the case said a Springdale police officer was doing traffic enforcement in the area of Pittsburgh and Porter streets about 11:40 p.m. last Thursday, Sept. 16 when he spotted a vehicle with a burned-out headlamp.

After catching up to it, Officer Jake Pollick noticed it matched a vehicle involved in a Sept. 11 traffic stop in Frazer in which police confiscated heroin and drug paraphernalia, the complaint said.

Pollick assisted Frazer with that stop.

The complaint said, after Pollick turned on his emergency lights, Mautino ran a stop sign at Lincoln Avenue and Pittsburgh Street and sped toward the New Kensington Bridge with the officer in pursuit.

The vehicle turned right after crossing the bridge and was headed toward Central City Plaza, just on the other side of the bridge, when it crashed, authorities said.

Police said Mautino and the passenger in her vehicle, Richard Mautino, 20, of New Kensington, fled after the vehicle wrecked.

Pollick was able to catch up with her in a nearby parking lot and take her into custody, according to the complaint.

She was taken to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh after she began hyperventilating.

Investigators said hospital staff discovered a crack pipe in her pocket.

Springdale police said Rachel Mautino provided them with false information. They were uncertain how she and Richard Mautino are related.

An Allegheny Valley police sergeant used a police dog to track Richard Mautino to the city’s parking garage several blocks away and take him into custody, authorities said.

Police said he had full stamp bags of heroin and a “large sum” of money. Crack pipes with residue were confiscated from the vehicle, according to the complaint.

Richard Mautino faces a Sept. 28 preliminary hearing before District Judge David Sosovicka on charges of drug delivery and possession, fleeing to avoid arrest and resisting arrest.