Correction:
An earlier version of this story stated Boucher faced no charges stemming out of the April 1 chase in Morrow County. He was charged with felonious assault - attempt with a deadly weapon out of Morrow County Municipal Court on April 1.
ASHLAND — The chase involving Joshua Boucher — the man responsible for a manhunt spanning five counties — ended behind a refrigerator.
According to Sgt. Matt Neff of the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office, Boucher came out from behind the appliance with his hands up, muttering.
Neff said he heard Boucher say “I can explain,” but he couldn’t understand anything else the defendant said as he was handcuffed and taken away.
Boucher, 43, has since been charged with failing to comply with an order or signal from law enforcement, a third-degree felony. He pleaded not guilty.
Last week, during a preliminary hearing, Ashland County Common Pleas Judge Dave Stimpert bound the case over to a grand jury.
Additional charges emerged from that grand jury session, including grand theft of a motor vehicle and three counts of failure to comply with an order or signal from law enforcement.
The chase in Ashland County
Hours before being found hiding behind a fridge in an unoccupied house in Loudonville, the Morrow County man had led police from several agencies through five counties while driving a white Toyota Camry.
His getaway started to unravel when he allegedly crashed into an ODOT truck head-on in Mohican Township. The crash report from the incident states Boucher’s Camry suffered “disabling damage.” The ODOT truck, driven by Shawn Rogers, ran off the road and rolled, according to the report.
Rogers told police he was driving 55 mph when he crested a hill while driving south on State Route 89. Boucher’ car was “left of center in his lane,” the crash report stated.
After the crash, witnesses told police Boucher got out of his car and stole a silver GNC Denali pickup truck and drove off.
Deputy Hall had been on the lookout for Boucher since 8 a.m. The deputy heard over the radio that police were looking for a homicide suspect driving a white Toyota Camry. The call included a description and a photo of the suspect, Hall said.
He didn’t find anyone. But then, the crash with the ODOT truck happened. It was 11:35 a.m.
Hall said he headed that way as he listened to officers advise over the radio the suspect had stolen a vehicle — a 3500 GMC Denali — and fled the crash scene.
“Once that came out, I drove quicker,” he said during the hearing on Wednesday.
On his way, a Knox County detective told him that the suspect would be heading south “to kill another associate.”
‘No regard’
While slowly patrolling on State Route 60, driving north, he came upon Township Road 2475.
He said he looked over into the intersection and saw three vehicles: an Amazon box truck, a car and a silver truck.
“I look over, made (eye) contact with the driver — the driver matches the picture of the driver I was looking for. I noticed that the suspect appeared to be panicked,” Hall said.
Hall made a U-turn and flicked on his lights. That’s when Boucher sped off, heading south toward Loudonville on State Route 60, the deputy said.
Sirens blaring, the chase was on. Hall said his cruiser reached speeds around 100 mph, and Boucher passed cars with “no regard in his movements.”
“And we’re weaving through cars,” he said.
Hall said a spike strip was thrown down, but it didn’t work. But as he approached Township Road 2802, Boucher lost control.
“He slides and goes into yards,” Hall said. “He looks, from my perspective, very close to a home.”
Hall told the court during the hearing that it was in that moment he decided to “intervene” by crashing into him.
He walked Ashland County Assistant Prosecutor Mike Callow through his decision-making process in that moment.
“I know that he’s a homicide suspect. At least that’s what I’ve been told at the time. I know that he has stolen a vehicle, and he is a danger to others. And he is actively fleeing into an area that I know is heavily populated on a school day,” he said.
(Clear Fork and Loudonville-Perrysville schools had gone into lockdown earlier, as a precaution.)
Hall crashed into Boucher, ending the chase — for Hall, that is. From there, Boucher fled on foot and officers requested a K9 unit.
Hall was injured. He thought he’d broken his ankle but testified it ended up being a sprain.
During cross examination, Boucher’s attorney, Don Wick, determined that Hall hadn’t used his vehicle’s intercom system at any point during the hot pursuit. Also, Hall never interviewed or interacted with his client.
Wick was not immediately available to comment further.
Neff, the ACSO sergeant, is a K9 handler. At the time of the K9 request, Neff was at the ODOT truck crash scene, he said. So he drove down toward Loudonville to begin the manhunt.
Neff said he took the dog into the woods.
“We were in the woods, probably 30 minutes, we located a jacket — a Carhartt jacket — hanging up in a wooded area, he said.
From there, the K9 followed the scent to an unoccupied house. The owner wasn’t home and Neff said he gave officers permission to enter. Neff’s K9 cleared the garage, but there was a door at the back.
The ACSO sergeant said he entered the room through the door and found Boucher hiding behind a refrigerator.
“We backed out, again, giving commands to come out with his hands up — at this time, there’s probably 20 of us in there, all at gunpoint — and at that time, the male showed his hands and began coming to the middle of the room,” Neff said.
Authorities have said Boucher evaded officers in a chase spanning Morrow, Richland, Ashland, Knox and Holmes counties because of his alleged involvement in a shooting back in his hometown, Mount Gilead.
The Morrow County Sheriff’s Office charged Boucher with “felonious assault – attempt with a deadly weapon” on April 1, according to Morrow County Municipal Court records.
The next hearing in Boucher’s case has been set for 9 a.m. on April 19.