Police Say Easton Man Led Them On High Speed Chase

An Easton man told police “I’m the one you’re looking for” after allegedly leading them on a car chase that started in Bethlehem’s northwest section, included a crash on Route 22 and ended up with the car on a front lawn in the city’s northeast and the man giving himself up a short distance away.

 During the chase early Saturday, police watched as the car allegedly driven by Justin Martin Reigle, 25, left eastbound Macada Road for a wooded area, leaving in its wake crushed foliage, uprooted trees and about 75 feet of damaged chain-link fence, according to court records.

The records say:

The incident, which lasted about 20 minutes, began about 2:21am when state police radar clocked Reigle’s 2000 black BMW 540 going 84 mph on Route 378 near Route 22. The car was eastbound on Route 22 when it crashed into the rear of a vehicle in the right lane near the Route 512 exit.

The car then took the Route 512 off-ramp at high speed. Other police units alerted to the situation spotted the black sedan, which then took off east on Macada.

The BMW then went through the wooded area. Police found the car on the front lawn of 1201 Butztown Road, Apt. 14 – southeast of the intersection of Linden St. (Route 191) and Macada..

At 2:40am, police saw a man – later identified as Reigle – walking south on East Boulevard in the area of Butztown Road – a section east of where the car was found.

”I’m the one you’re looking for,” the man told police, adding that he “fled the scene of the crash because he was drunk.” He also said he was “definitely over the limit.”

Reigle, of 1047 Ferry St., was taken to the county DUI Processing Center inBethlehem. The records did not list his blood-alcohol level.

He was arraigned by District Judge Todd Strohe of Bangor on charges that include fleeing or attempting to elude police, DUI, recklessly endangering another person and exceeding the speed limit by 29 mph. He was sent to Northampton County Prison after failing to post $15,000 bail.