Man in custody after two police vehicles crash during Schuylkill pursuit

A Schuylkill County man has been taken into custody after a pursuit resulted in a state police cruiser and a local police vehicle being involved in a crash Wednesday afternoon.

State police at Schuylkill Haven said the crash occurred about 3:40 p.m. along West Bacon Street, near Howard Street, in the borough of Palo Alto.

Police said that 2015 Ford Taurus driven by Trooper Tyler Brackman, 27, was in pursuit of a fleeing vehicle that was traveling eastbound on West Bacon Street.

A 2013 Ford Interceptor being driven by Sgt. Joe Kavanaugh, 43, of the Palo Alto Police Department, was traveling west on West Bacon Street and attempted to assist the trooper by blocking the eastbound lane of the road to bring the suspect vehicle, driven by Michael Flickinger, 42, of Port Carbon, to a stop and terminate the pursuit.

The fleeing vehicle was able to travel around the Palo Alto cruiser and continued fleeing east on West Bacon Street.

The Palo Alto police vehicle began to back onto a side street in an attempt to clear the roadway.

But, the marked state police cruiser was unable to stop, and its front end struck the driver’s side of the Palo Alto cruiser.

After initial impact, the state police cruiser traveled a short distance east and struck a utility pole on the southwest corner of the intersection with West Bacon Street and Howard Street.

The Palo Alto vehicle was pushed a short distance backward and came to rest within the intersection facing southwest.

Both Kavanaugh and Brackman were treated and released at a hospital.

On Thursday, troopers took Flickinger into custody in Pottsville City.

Flickinger was arraigned by District Judge James Ferrier of Orwigsburg, and committed to Schuylkill County Prison in lieu of $10,000 straight bail.