York City Police: Car chase ends in drug, weapons arrest

York City Police say a man who has previous run-ins with the cops led officers in a car chase earlier this month before being arrested while he had gun he wasn't allowed to possess.

Joshua Matthew Ballard, 23, of 30 Greenwood Drive, Suite A, in West Manchester Township, was charged Oct. 1 with felony counts of fleeing and eluding the police, possession of drugs with the intent to sell them and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, as well as several related misdemeanor and summary offenses, according to the criminal complaint against him.

Police allege they saw Ballard driving a car very fast on wet roads near Helen Thackston Charter School on East Philadelphia Street around 2 p.m. Oct. 1, so they attempted to pull him over. But Ballard accelerated around a police car and took off, speeding down East Philadelphia Street, documents state.

He eventually tried to turn left onto Broad Street, but was going too fast; he crashed into a telephone pole and came to a stop, according to documents.

Ballard, the only person in the vehicle, took off running, but officers caught up with him, police say. Officers found a few bags of crack cocaine, some marijuana, and a scale with cocaine residue on it in the car, documents state. They also found a pistol on the floor in front of the driver's seat, police allege.

Ballard in 2010 pleaded guilty to felony weapons charges. He also was charged in the February 2014 shooting of Khalil Devlin, though the charges were later dismissed, according to online court records. He additionally has faced robbery and other charges.

Ballard remains in York county Prison in lieu of $750,000 bail, according to online court records.

— Reach Sean Cotter at scotter@yorkdispatch.com.