The man who allegedly stole a Hanging Rock Police car last Friday started this week with an appearance in the Ironton Municipal Court on Monday afternoon after leading the IPD on a both a car and a foot chase on Sunday evening.

Bryce Hogan, 23, was in court on charges of first-degree felony aggravated assault for dragging a police officer, failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer, vehicle pursuit, possession of drugs and obstruction of justice.

The whole thing began when Hogan allegedly stole a Hanging Rock Police cruiser on Thursday and then stole another vehicle.

IPD Chief Pam Wagner said just before midnight on Sunday, officers made a traffic stop on a yellow 2002 Chevy Monte Carlo.

“At that time, the car appeared to appear a backseat full of trash. The driver was subsequently taken from the car and she was found to have a warrant,” Wagner said. “As officers were dealing with her, they noticed something moving in the car. Bryce Hogan came out from under all that trash and gets in the driver’s seat and takes off with the car.”

Officer Bradley Spoljaric tried to get Hogan out of the car and got dragged for about 10 feet before letting go.

There was a short vehicle pursuit and Hogan wrecked the Monte Carlo into a tree at the intersection of South 11th and Pine streets.

Hogan took off running from the accident scene.

“He somehow jumps from a hillside on 11th Street and ended up on the roof of a house,” Wagner said, adding officers Spoljaric and Joe Akers ended up on the roof, too. “Hogan is fighting with police and officer Spoljaric arrived to help, they got him subdued and handcuffed and taken to Lawrence County Jail after he was medically cleared.”

During a search of Hogan, officers found what Wagner described as a bag of white powdery substance, which was sent to a lab for testing to confirm what it is.

“We believe it is some type of illegal narcotics,” Wagner said. “Drug paraphernalia was found on his person, too.”

On Monday afternoon, Hogan had an arraignment hearing in Ironton Municipal Court where he pleaded not guilty to the charges. His bond was $500,000 cash.

He will have a preliminary hearing on Thursday.

Wagner said that other charges may be filed against Hogan after his case is sent to the Lawrence County grand jury.

Law enforcement had been looking for Hogan because last Friday, around 7:30 a.m., a Hanging Rock Police officer spotted a SUV stolen from Ashland, Kentucky on the side of U.S. 52.

Hogan was in the vehicle and took off when the officer approached. He led Hanging Rock Police and Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers on a car chase that hit speeds of 100 mph. He then jumped out of the SUV on Campbell Drive and ran into the woods. When Hogan ran back to the road, a trooper caught him, handcuffed him and he was put in the caged back seat of a Hanging Rock Police car.

While they were putting together an inventory, Hogan somehow put his handcuffed arms past his legs and then crawled through the cage and into the front seat and took off in the police car.

Hogan then carjacked a Chrysler 200 and took off again. An all-points bulletin was put out for Hogan who wasn’t spotted until Sunday night in Ironton.