JERSEY SHORE -- A suspect in a string of robberies in Lycoming and Clinton counties is locked up following two separate police chases early Sunday morning.
Police identified the suspect as Steven Long of Williamsport.
He was arrested in the early hours of Sunday morning after allegedly robbing a Minit Mart in Jersey Shore and then leading police on one chase and then another.
Troopers say the hold-up in Jersey Shore happened around 12:30 a.m. A short time later, officers from Tiadaghton Valley Regional Police spotted the robber's vehicle. They chased it onto Route 220 and eventually onto McGill Hollow Road in Woodward Township, near Linden.
When officers tried to stop the vehicle, the suspect crashed it and ran off into the woods.
Police picked up the trail again in Lock Haven. They say the suspect had stolen a vehicle from an area near the crash site and driven there. When police spotted the stolen vehicle, another chase began and ended up on northbound Route 220. Police used a device to flatten most of the tires on the vehicle, but the suspect kept going until finally crashing into a guide rail at the Avis exit.
The suspect was arrested and treated at a hospital. He was then locked up in Lycoming County on a parole violation.
Police believe the suspect is the man responsible for several hold-ups in the central Pennsylvania over the past five weeks or so. The robber covers his face with a blue bandanna and targets convenience stores or similar businesses.
