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WATCH: Middletown man arrested after leading troopers on wrong-way pursuit on I-71

WARREN COUNTY — UPDATE @ 5 p.m.:

Cruiser camera video shows how a trooper was able to strike a wrong-way vehicle to finally get it to stop during an early Tuesday pursuit on Interstate 71 in Warren County.

Michael L. Cooke, 29, of Middletown, was identified as the suspect taken into custody following the high-speed pursuit, the Lebanon Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol stated in a media release.

EARLIER REPORT

A Middletown man was arrested after leading state troopers on a wrong-way pursuit on I-71 in Warren County early Tuesday morning, according to investigators.

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Michael L. Cooke, 29, of Middletown, was identified as the suspect taken into custody following the early morning pursuit, according to a media release from the Lebanon Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

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A vehicle was spotted by state troopers around 3 a.m. traveling north on I-71, north of the Fields Ertel Road exit, at 96 mph in the 65 mph zone, investigators said. It fit the description of a vehicle that witnesses earlier reported was traveling the wrong-way on I-71 and the description was broadcasted to state troopers.

A trooper attempted to stop the vehicle but the driver, identified as Cooke, refused to stop, investigators said.

Troopers pursued the vehicle on I-71 when Cooke drove the wrong-way on the highway multiple times, troopers said. The pursuit came to an end when a trooper intentionally hit the suspect’s vehicle and troopers were able to take Cooke into custody.

Cooke was transported for observational purposes to Bethesda Arrow Springs hospital and later booked into the Warren County Jail.

Drugs are believed to be a factor in the incident, troopers said.

Additional details were not available. We’ll update this story as we learn more.

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