CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. — A Philadelphia man has been charged with four felonies, including attempted homicide, along with four misdemeanors and several summary offenses after a police chase on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Cumberland County Thursday morning, according to State Police.
Mark Anthony Davenport, 31, is accused of tackling and attempting to disarm a State Police trooper who approached his vehicle after it crashed into a field beside the roadway to end the pursuit, police say.
He is charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault, disarming a law enforcement officer, fleeing or attempting to elude police, resisting arrest, reckless endangerment, and simple assault, along with multiple summary traffic offenses, according to State Police.
Police say the incident began when a trooper on patrol clocked Davenport's white Honda Civic traveling at 90 mph in a 70-mph zone near Mile Marker 210.0 on the Turnpike in Upper Mifflin Township Thursday at about 10:50 a.m.
The trooper initiated a traffic stop and pulled Davenport's vehicle over at Mile Marker 211.3. As the trooper approached his vehicle, Davenport suddenly accelerated and fled into traffic, again traveling at a high rate of speed.
The trooper pursued in his vehicle, at which point Davenport allegedly swerved his car at the trooper's vehicle in an attempt to force it off the road, police say.
Davenport then turned his vehicle around and fled in the other direction, traveling the wrong way down the highway lanes and endangering several other vehicles, according to police.
The pursuit ended when Davenport crashed into a field along the side of the road near Mile Marker 216, police say. The crash deployed the vehicle's airbags, blocking the trooper's view inside.
As the trooper approached, Davenport allegedly tried to continue fleeing, revving his vehicle's engine in an attempt to accelerate, but the vehicle was too damaged to drive, according to police.
After refusing orders to exit the vehicle, Davenport allegedly attacked the trooper who tried to pull him out, tackling the trooper to the ground and resisting arrest. He allegedly grabbed the trooper's firearm and tried to point it at the trooper's head, police say.
The trooper managed to point the gun away from his head and back at Davenport, telling him "don't make me shoot you," police say.
Davenport then attempted to flee when additional troopers arrived on the scene. He was attempting to enter another vehicle that was stopped on the side of the road near the scene when he was apprehended, police say.
Police later determined that Davenport was driving with a suspended license, police say. Several items inside his vehicle were thrown into the field after it crashed, and police recovered marijuana and drug paraphernalia among the debris, according to the complaint.
