Man jailed after high-speed chase

A Schuylkill County man was jailed on Monday following a high-speed chase.

State police at Schuylkill Haven identified the suspect as John Edwards, 33, of Ashland.

According to troopers, the chase began at 6:10 p.m. in Hegins Township. The high-speed pursuit continued through Tremont and Tower City before Edwards, who was driving a 1998 Ford Windstar, finally pulled over and ran off through adjacent yards in Tower City. He was apprehended following a short foot chase.

It was determined that Edwards had an active felony warrant for a prior Megan’s Law violation and was suspected to be under the influence of a controlled substance. He was also operating a vehicle which he had not registered with his Megan’s Law violations.

Edwards was charged with fleeing or attempting to elude police, driving under the influence of a controlled substance, Megan’s Law violation, reckless endangering along with numerous summary traffic offenses.

He was arraigned by on-call District Judge Stephen Bayer, of Tamaqua, and committed to the county prison in Pottsville after failing to post $25,000 straight cash bail.

A passenger with Edwards, Nicole Zipp, no address given, was taken into custody on an active warrant issued by the Dauphin County adult probation office for violating conditions of her bail.