This article was originally published on GoErie.com on July 29, 2018
Authorities said 48-year-old Erie resident William A. Lisek was wanted by the Erie Bureau of Police on charges filed on Friday in an armed robbery in the city on Tuesday, and by the Erie County Sheriff’s Office on receiving stolen property and theft by deception charges, when he fled from a traffic stop in the area of East 22nd and German streets on Saturday at about 11:40 a.m.
Lisek and a female passenger in the 2005 Toyota he was driving, identified by authorities as 36-year-old city resident Shalin N. Pepperman, fled from the traffic stop and led Erie and the Pennsylvania State Police on a high-speed pursuit that traveled into New York on Interstate 86. The Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office reported that its deputies and the New York State Police were called to assist, and as Lisek’s vehicle passed the Sherman exit at Route 76 Lisek lost control of his vehicle and it spun before Lisek started driving west in the eastbound lanes.
A Pennsylvania State Police trooper put his life at risk in an attempt to stop the fleeing vehicle by hitting Lisek’s vehicle, disabling it, the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office reported. The crash shut down the eastbound lanes of I-86 for about one hour. The trooper wasn’t injured in the crash, but Lisek was flown to UPMC Hamot for what appeared to be a non-life-threatening head injury, according to the report. Pepperman was taken to UPMC Hamot by ambulance and was later released.
Pepperman, who was wanted by Erie police on charges of possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and false identification in an incident from May 22, was arraigned on the charges by Senior District Judge Frank Abate on Saturday night, according to court documents. She remained in the Erie County Prison Sunday on $5,000 bond.
Erie police said Sunday that they turned over custody of Lisek to Erie County Prison officials at UPMC Hamot and that they believed that Lisek remained hospitalized on Sunday. A prison official would only confirm Sunday that the prison had custody of Lisek.
According to court records, Lisek was arraigned by Abate on 25 charges filed by Erie police in the pursuit, including felony counts of fleeing police, aggravated assault and flight to avoid apprehension. It was unclear Sunday when Lisek was arraigned by Abate, who set bond at $50,000, according to court records.
Court records do not show that Lisek was arraigned on the felony counts of robbery and aggravated assault and the misdemeanor counts of simple assault and recklessly endangering that Erie police filed against him on Friday in the robbery on Tuesday. According to the criminal complaint in that case, Lisek is accused of going to an East 22nd Street residence, putting a handgun to the back of a man’s head and demanding money. When the victim refused, police charge that Lisek hit him in the head with the gun multiple times, police wrote in the complaint.
Erie police officers identified Lisek as the robbery suspect through surveillance footage from the victim’s security camera, according to the complaint.
The Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office reported on Saturday night that Lisek faces charges of failure to comply, speeding, reckless driving and unsafe lane change in Town of Sherman Court. Additional charges are pending against him, according to the report.
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