SOMERSET — The car chase began at 9:25 a.m. May 6 when the blue 2019 Chevrolet Malibu whizzed past a stationed, marked state police cruiser on the portion of the Pennsylvania Turnpike that runs through the county The vehicle was clocked at 106 mph in the 70 mph zone, according to state police.
At times the vehicle and the following state police cruisers reached 120 mph, according to Cpl. John Matchik in probable-cause affidavits.
The chase moved off the turnpike through an exit onto North Center Street that runs through the heart of Somerset Borough lined with businesses and residents. The chase rushed back onto the turnpike. Once there, troopers were able to stop the vehicle. Three men in the vehicle were arrested and are facing multiple charges.
The driver and passengers of the vehicle were scheduled for preliminary hearings Tuesday before District Judge Scott Walker of Somerset. Two of the men had defense attorneys on board, the third did not. All the cases were continued.
Charged were Quamarri Curry, 20, of Uniontown; Davontae Clayton, 19, of Belle Vernon; and Pharoah Sewell, 20, of New Kensington. The three men were placed in Somerset County Jail. On Friday, Sewell posted his $50,000 bond. His attorney is Dennis Popojas, of Washington, Pennsylvania. Clayton's bond was set at $100,000. His attorney is Paul Charles Schneider of Washington, Pennslyvania. He remains in jail. Curry does not have an attorney listed on a court docket and also remains in jail on a $50,000 bond, according to court records.
Preliminary hearings, if the right to one is not waived by the accused, go before district judges at the magisterial level in the justice court system and the results there will either place the case on the trial court docket or not. Bonds for the accused set at his or her arraignment can also be modified at a preliminary hearing.
The alleged acts
While chasing the vehicle with emergency lighting equipment, Matchik called in an active vehicle pursuit noting speeds up to and over 120 mph, according to the affidavit.
He saw "what appeared to be a black handgun being thrown from the vehicle" landing along Jersey barriers and the shoulder area of the roadway. He then radioed about the object being thrown from the car.
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The vehicle then exited the turnpike at the Somerset interchange at a high rate of speed moving through numerous intersections onto North Center Avenue before returning to the turnpike westbound, police said.
At that point, several state police cruisers pursued the vehicle as it raced through an active work zone. The driver of the vehicle, Clayton, pulled off to the side of the road. Sewell was a front-seat passenger. Curry was a backseat passenger.
Where does a gun come in?
The recovered handgun thrown from the vehicle is a Glock that was reported stolen by the Philadelphia Police Department in August 2023, according to the affidavit.
"There was one .9mm Luger round chambered in the Glock and an attached magazine loaded with 22 other rounds of .9mm Luger rounds," Matchik wrote.
An inventory search of the vehicle at the turnpike barracks where the men were first taken and interviewed yielded seven loose rounds of .9mm Luger ammunition in the trunk, he wrote.
The charges
The three men were initially placed in Somerset County Jail based on the following charges:
Firearms not to be carried without a license and receiving stolen property, felonies, and tampering with physical evidence, possession of an offensive weapon, small amount of marijuana for personal use and possession of drug paraphernalia, misdemeanors. Curry was also charged with possession of firearm prohibited, a felony. Clayton was also charged with one count of fleeing or attempting to elude officers, a felony; four counts of reckless endangerment, misdemeanors; and 12 summary charges for vehicular code violations.
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