Motorcyclist accused of giving middle finger to police during chase

WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — A motorcyclist with a fake license plate that said “will run” was arrested after giving police the middle finger during a chase, investigators stated.

According to the Wilkes-Barre Police Department, on April 19 around 10:30 a.m., officers patrolling North Wilkes-Barre Boulevard saw a motorcyclist with a fake license plate that said “will run” and began to follow the operator, later identified as Jayden Cortes, 19, of Wilkes-Barre.

After following Cortes down a few streets police said they decided to pull him over for a traffic stop, however, Cortes began to accelerate at a high speed.

Officers said they tried to get in front of Cortes but he accelerated faster through an intersection, then police tried to pin Cortes but he maneuvered himself around cars and continued to travel on Park Avenue.

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At one point police began to catch up to Cortes and he was seen “blading his body toward the patrol car and giving an officer the middle finger,” as stated in the affidavit.

Throughout the chase police stated Cortes drove the motorcycle with “complete disregard for the safety of pedestrians/motorists, operating at a high speed, going the wrong way on a one-way road and passing cars by entering the oncoming lane.”

Police stopped the chase and later identified the driver as Cortes from video footage at the Wilkes-Barre Area High School where Cortes is seen leaving the school on the motorcycle, according to court documents.

Cortes was later arrested on April 26 and charged with fleeing police, reckless driving, and other related traffic offenses.

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