One of the two suspects in a high-speed chase last August that started with a vehicle theft at the White Township Walmart and ended in Armstrong County is due in court today for a sentencing hearing.
Rehny Denise Little, a 31-year-old from Homestead, pleaded guilty in April to charges of felony theft by unlawful taking and conspiracy to that charge, while a summary seatbelt charge was not prosecuted. She was with 35-year-old Michael Pucciarelli of Pittsburgh when they stole a car from the parking lot of the Walmart in the evening of August 30th. Troopers spotted the car heading west on Route 422 and a chase was started. Police tried to use several PIT maneuvers to bring the pursuit to an end, but one of them turned him around and he started to head back towards Indiana. After popping a tire on a spike strip and intentionally hitting another police cruiser, he was stopped by two officers who used their cars to pin him against a guiderail. Pucciarelli had to be subdued with a taser.
In February, Pucciarelli pleaded guilty to fleeing or attempting to elude police and conspiracy to theft. and was ordered to serve up to a day less than two years in Indiana County Jail and three years of probation.
