VANCEBURG — A traffic stop which quickly evolved into a pursuit landed an Ohio man in jail on multiple charges.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office was patrolling the Burtonville area late Saturday evening. According to Sheriff Johnny Bivens, the patrol was in response to a call of a white SUV in the area was allegedly being used for a meth lab.

Deputies attempted a traffic stop on a vehicle bearing a resemblance to the reported vehicle, traveling west on Buck Lick Branch for a traffic violation. The vehicle accelerated and eventually led deputies onto Kentucky 989, police said.

After an approximate five-mile chase, the operator of the vehicle stopped, and a female passenger jumped out of the vehicle, according to deputies. Bivens said Maleah Reese, 39, held her hands up as she exited the vehicle. Reese was uninjured, and was released with no criminal charges.

“She was a passenger, and had no control over the driver’s actions,” he said.

The operator, William Jason Wallace, 36, of Batavia, Ohio, allegedly refused to comply with the deputies’ commands and had to be forcefully removed from the vehicle.

Wallace was charged with first-degree fleeing and evading police, first-degree wanton endangerment, resisting arrest and operating on a suspended operators license. He was lodged in the Lewis County Detention Center where he remains.

Wallace allegedly had five outstanding warrants for his arrest out of Mason and Bracken counties. Bivens said many of the warrants were for theft and one for a parole violation in Ohio.

The case remains under investigation by Bivens and Deputy Bryon Walker.

Wallace
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Jonathan Wright

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