Westlake chase ends with 2 people taken into custody and a missing teenager found

WESTLAKE, Ohio — A police chase last week ended with two men taken into custody and a missing girl sent to her home.

It all started around 8:15 p.m. on October 15, when North Olmsted Police notified neighboring agencies about 35-year-old Jeffrey A. Desler, who was running away from officers trying to make a probate order against him. In the early morning hours of Oct. 16, Westlake police were alerted when a license plate reader spotted Desler’s vehicle.

“We received an alert about two o’clock in the morning that he was driving on Crocker Road,” said Westlake Police Commissioner Gerald Vogel.

According to Vogel, the man ran away again.

“They got into the back of his vehicle and he started running away from them from Crocker Park toward Crocker Road. We followed him with lights and sirens trying to catch him,” Vogel said.

The police followed the truck until it disappeared. Shortly after, they found the vehicle empty and abandoned in the middle of the road with its doors open.

“We found another handgun in the car, along with an AR-15 type long gun,” Vogel said. Authorities allege the guns were stolen from Desler’s father’s home.

Police said they also found a 35-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl near the pickup truck. They told officers Desler would give them a ride from Downtown Cleveland, but wouldn’t let them out of the car when they arrived in Westlake; He stated that Desler held them at gunpoint as he walked around.

Police said they later learned that other agencies were looking for the man and girl.

“One of the passengers in the vehicle was a 16-year-old female who was registered as missing. So it was endangered, lost. The male she was with was a 36-year-old man who had a probation violation warrant out for his arrest,” Vogel said.

Many agencies searched for Desler on foot and by drone. They later found him hiding nearby with a gun in his waistband.

Vogel said he’s never seen anything like this before, but he’s thankful for the license plate readers and proactive team.

“Using technology alongside traditional police work really does wonders, and I think we do it well,” Vogel said.

Vogel said the 16-year-old girl who went missing in University Heights was safely returned to her family. The 35-year-old man was taken into custody due to outstanding arrest warrants from the Ohio Adult Parole Authority for prior convictions involving sexual offenses with a minor.

Desler is currently facing multiple charges, including kidnapping, child endangerment and evading police.