LAKE TOWNSHIP, OH (Toledo News Now) - In the light of a recent police pursuit, police offered insight into the risks they take every time they make a simple traffic stop.
On Tuesday afternoon, Lake Township police said they pulled over Gregory Baldwin, 36, for failing to use his signal when making a lane change. After waiting for nearly ten minutes on the shoulder, the suspect took off.
"You always have to be prepared, and I say always start at the most extreme. How are we going to react if this turns into a full blown shootout or a pursuit? Anything that involves officer safety, you need to be ready for," said Sgt. Kevin Braun with the Toledo Police Department.
Officers Kelly Clark and Shannon Badgett were ready and chased Baldwin as speeds up to 100 miles per hour.
"Anytime you turn your overhead lights on, and somebody takes off, they're not running because they just rolled a stop sign. They're running because they're in a stolen car, they've got drugs in the car, they've got warrants," Braun said.
Police said in this case Baldwin had drugs in the car—nearly 100 grams of cocaine and about 85 grams of marijuana.
"You might suspect something else, but there's also a traffic infraction involved, so you conduct a traffic stop and it sort of blossoms into something else," Braun said.
While Braun said he has seen extreme instances like Tuesday's chase before, it is not the norm.
