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Akron man leads police on chase, 4-hour standoff

A traffic stop led to a chase and four-hour standoff.

An Akron man is in custody after he led police on a high-speed chase that resulted in a standoff inside a home early Tuesday.

According to police, officers attempted a traffic stop on the Coventry Street entrance ramp to Interstate 77 northbound around 2:30 a.m. Instead of stopping, the driver continued, leading officers on a chase through the north and east sides of Akron, reaching speeds near 80 miles per hour.

At one point during the chase, the driver called police dispatch and stated he had a gun and was going to kill himself and his passenger. During the call, he also tells dispatch he's a paranoid schizophrenic on meth. Listen to the 911 audio in the player above.

The driver bailed from the car after crashing it through a fence on Ripley Avenue. When police dispatched a K-9, the suspect assaulted the dog and fled, barricading himself inside an abandoned home at the 200 block of Dennison Avenue.

After four hours of attempting to contact the suspect, later identified as 27-year-old Steven Weddle, officers deployed chemical munitions into the home. Weddle continued to ignore pleas to surrender and was struck by a non-lethal round. He was taken into custody.

Weddle is charged with wilful flee, obstructing official business, resisting arrest and assaulting a police animal and facsimile firearm. He has two prior warrants for escape, assault and felonious assault.

The car's passenger was detained and released by officers. Police found a BB gun inside the car.

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