Woman facing many charges after 18-mile chase

A Franklin woman is facing charges that accuse her of fleeing from police in a vehicle while she was high on several drugs.

Franklin state police said in a criminal complaint filed this week that a trooper was patrolling Allegheny Boulevard near its intersection with Two Mile Run Road on July 3 when he noticed a vehicle driven by Nicole Nolf, 23, with an expired registration and activated his lights to pull over the vehicle.

Nolf didn’t pull over and instead accelerated the vehicle, the complaint said.

Nolf stopped the vehicle at a stop sign at the intersection of Front Street and Rocky Grove Avenue where a male passenger exited the vehicle and put his hands up, the complaint said.

The trooper continued to pursue Nolf on Rocky Grove Avenue until she made a right turn onto Palmer Avenue and from there drove onto Meadville Pike and several other roads before returning to Allegheny Boulevard and turning onto several streets in Rocky Grove, the complaint said.

Nolf drove into the driveway of a residence on Egbert Street and then drove through the yard, damaging the yard and bushes before continuing onto Egbert Street and then onto Front Street, the complaint said.

From Front Street, Nolf turned onto Crestview Drive and drove to the apartments located at the end of the road where the chase ended, the complaint said.

The vehicle came to a stop at the dead end of Crestview Drive and Nolf exited the vehicle and fled on foot, according to the complaint.

After checking to see if anyone else was in the vehicle, the trooper followed Nolf into the woods and found her “trying to conceal herself with a tree,” the complaint said.

The chase covered 18 miles over 20 minutes, police said.

Police had received a call at their barracks during the pursuit informing them the registered owner of the vehicle hadn’t given Nolf permission to drive the vehicle, the complaint said.

Nolf failed field sobriety tests, according to the complaint. The document also notes that a “white powdery crystal substance in a clear plastic wrap,” consistent with how illegal narcotics are often packaged, was seen by police in plain view in the middle console of the vehicle.

Nolf was found to have amphetamine, methamphetamine and fentanyl in her system after a blood draw at UPMC Northwest, the complaint said.

Nolf has been charged with a felony count of fleeing or attempting to elude an officer, misdemeanor counts of use/possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a controlled substance, criminal mischief, DUI and flight to avoid apprehension/trial/punishment, as well as 17 summary driving violations.