North Canton police say a stolen Lincoln Navigator sideswiped a police cruiser early Saturday and its intoxicated driver left the scene, forcing other vehicles off the road in northern Stark County.
Police reported finding the man suspected of driving the Navigator, Kevin C. Kreiter, 59, of Pompano Beach, Fla., a short while later wandering around the intersection of Kent Avenue and Smith Kramer Street Northeast south of Hartville in Lake Township.
He was “highly intoxicated,” North Canton police said.
Lake Township police found the Navigator stopped in the intersection.
The incident began about 2:30 a.m. Saturday, when a North Canton police officer driving in the 5900 block of Market Avenue North in Plain Township saw the oncoming Navigator and swerved left of center to avoid it.
The Navigator, driving north in a southbound lane, sideswiped the cruiser, on its passenger side.
The officer was not injured, but his cruiser was damaged and disabled.
The officer radioed a description of the vehicle and its direction of travel, leading to Kreiter’s arrest.
Police later found out that the Navigator had been involved in a collision just before striking the North Canton cruiser.
Kreiter was charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle, operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, reckless operation and fleeing the scene of an accident.
Kreiter was booked into the Stark County Jail.
The Stark County Sheriff’s Office and the State Highway Patrol were also involved in the case.
