A Jefferson man eluded law enforcement for about six hours Saturday morning after crashing his car in rural Cooper and escaping on foot into a flooded cornfield until he was tasered into submission by a Greene County Deputy Sheriff.
Charles Raymond Bradshaw II, 57, of 112 S. Wilson Ave., Jefferson, was charged with interference with official acts, first-offense trespass, eluding, reckless driving, failure to obey stop sign and driving while license denied, suspended or revoked.
The incident began July 10 about 3:15 a.m. in Scranton, where a Greene County Deputy Sheriff observed a 2000 Honda CRV leaving the city limits and traveling eastbound on 230th Street.
The deputy observed the vehicle’s tracks in the wet gravel, and the vehicle “appeared to be weaving from side to side in the roadway,” according to court records. As the deputy’s patrol vehicle approached the Honda, the driver, Bradshaw, “pulled over to the side of the road” and “stuck his hand out and started waving at” the deputy.
When the deputy activated his patrol vehicle’s overhead emergency lights, Bradshaw allegedly “took off” in his Honda, “continuing eastbound on 230th at 60 mph,” according to court records. The deputy activated his vehicle’s siren in pursuit.
Bradshaw turned southward on I Avenue, traveling some five miles and allegedly running stops signs at 240th and 290th streets before driving straight through a T-intersection at 310th Street, where the Honda entered the ditch and struck the road sign and a fence post. Both airbags were deployed in the crash, according to court records.
Bradshaw then allegedly abandoned the Honda and fled on foot into a “cornfield that was flooded due to the heavy rain fall,” according to court records. A search of the field ensued, involving the Greene County Sheriff’s office, Jefferson Police Department, Carroll County Sheriff’s office and Guthrie County Sheriff’s office.
A K9 unit and an overhead drone were deployed in the search, but law enforcement did not succeed in locating the barefooted Bradshaw. Bradshaw’s tracks were found but could not be followed “due to the heavy rains and the flooded field,” according to court records.
Law enforcement remained on scene until the Honda was towed from the ditch. Inside the Honda, a deputy allegedly “noticed a glass smoking device containing a white residue on the floorboard of the vehicle,” according to court records.
Later that morning, a deputy returned to the location about 9:30 a.m. “to see if the suspect that had fled from the accident scene was still in the area,” and the deputy saw “a man with a red shirt and long hair, covered in mud” and “walking from the cornfield,” according to court records.
When Bradshaw saw the deputy, “he took off running south,” and the deputy “pursued him on foot through the field.” The deputy eventually detained Bradshaw with assistance from a Jefferson Police Department Officer.
Bradshaw continued to resist, and his obedience was at length compelled by means of a taser because he “was not complying with the commands” issued by law enforcement, according to court records.
Bradshaw was held in the Greene County Jail prior to his release on his own recognizance. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing July 28 in Greene County District Court.
*A criminal charge is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
