A suspected shoplifter led officers on a chase Tuesday on Detroit Road with a baby boy in the car he was driving before crashing, police said. As officers attempted to stop him, Josue Rodriguez struck a car at the intersection of state routes 254 and 83 around 3:35 p.m. and continued west through a red light, according to police Lt. Dan Fishbach.

Officers broke off the chase when they learned about the baby.

Rodriguez struck another car at state routes 254 and 611, then crashed into an eastbound car stopped at a red light at 254, Fishbach wrote. The impact caused the struck car to be pushed into a third vehicle.

No one was seriously injured in the crash, according to Fishbach, who didn’t say what the relationship was between Rodriguez and the boy. Fishbach wrote that the mile-long pursuit lasted about a minute, and the final crash occurred shortly after the pursuit.

The chase was preceded by a shoplifting complaint at the Kohl’s, 35906 Detroit Road, in the Avon Commons shopping center.

A security guard said a man fled the store with merchandise and drove off with a baby in the car.

Rodriguez was charged with robbery, fleeing, child endangerment, reckless driving, drunken driving, driving with a suspended license, hit/skip, a seat-belt violation and a child-restraint violation.
Rodriguez, 30, has an extensive criminal record that includes convictions for resisting arrest, obstructing official business, driving with a suspended license and disorderly conduct. Rodriguez, whose last known address was in the 1000 block of West 17th Street in Lorain, was being held without bond Tuesday night at the Lorain County Jail.

He is scheduled to appear Thursday in Avon Lake Municipal Court.