Three of Indiana County’s four magisterial district courts will be conducting hearings today, and while most of the cases coming before the courts will be for relatively minor crimes, there are two of note in the Homer City courtroom of District Judge Susanne Steffee. Both are preliminary hearings.
24-year-old John Robert Cottrell of Pittsburgh is scheduled for a hearing on 29 offenses related to an attempted traffic stop that led to a fifteen-mile pursuit in which police say Cottrell hit speeds as high as 120 miles per hour.
It happened November 24th in East Wheatfield Township. A state trooper tried to pull Cottrell over when he clocked him going 98 in a 55 mile-per-hour zone on Route 22 near Bowser Road. Rather than pull over, Cottrell hit the gas, swerving in and out of traffic before reaching the Route 403 South exit onto Cramer Pike. He ran the stop sign there and continued toward Johnstown, reaching 80 miles per hour in a 55 zone, and 85 when the speed limit slowed to 35. He finally gave up and pulled over near Locust Lane, still in Indiana County.
Cottrell is charged with felony fleeing and eluding, plus 28 summary traffic offenses.
Judge Steffee will also conduct the preliminary hearing for 34-year-old Reginald Charles Callaway of Parkville, Maryland, who is charged with felony aggravated assault by vehicle, two counts of DUI controlled substance, recklessly endangering, possession of a small amount of marijuana, and two traffic offenses. That incident is dated April 18th.
The other district courts in action today are those of Judge Guy Haberl in Indiana and Judge Christopher Welch in Clymer and.
