Police: Lynn man tried to run over officer during chase

LYNN – A city man will have to reschedule his wedding after a judge ordered the man held on prior charges and ordered $5,000 cash for new charges after the defendant allegedly tried to run over an officer while leading Lynn and Peabody police on a car and foot chase Wednesday.But the man’s attorney said the defendant didn’t realize he was being chased by police because they were not in uniform.”It’s not that they caught him,” public defender Christine Linski said. “He didn’t understand what was happening and stopped fleeing when he realized who they were.”Cedric Wongus, 29, of 36 Lyman St., was arrested and charged with assault with a dangerous weapon; operating a motor vehicle after having a license revoked as a habitual traffic offender; reckless operation of a motor vehicle; failure to stop for police; and warrants; at 1:07 p.m. Wednesday.He was arraigned on the charges Thursday in Lynn District Court. Wongus was also arraigned on a charge of vandalism to a motor vehicle stemming from a separate incident. A plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf for all charges.Undercover police officers on Lyman Street Wednesday noticed Wongus leave his house, look at officers and then drive off in a Ford Explorer, according to a report by Lynn Police Officer Michael Tortorise.Knowing Wongus had no driver’s license but did have four outstanding warrants, police tried to stop the SUV. But Wongus allegedly fled as officers got out of their vehicle. Another officer nearby got out of his vehicle and tried to stop Wongus’ vehicle as it came around the corner.Police said Wongus turned the corner and drove straight at the officer, who had to jump out of the way. Police reported Wongus also swerved to miss a marked cruiser.Several more police vehicles joined the chase as it continued in Peabody. Wongus then allegedly led Lynn and Peabody police officers on a foot chase through the woods after abandoning his vehicle.Police also recovered two bullets from the route of the chase, and a witness allegedly told police she had seen a man in a gray SUV with his arm out the window as the vehicle passed. Police did not file any weapons charges in the incident but reported that more charges may be forthcoming.Essex Assistant District Attorney Jacquelyn Kaplan requested Wongus be held on $5,000 cash bail for the charges from Wednesday.Kaplan also addressed two other Lynn cases on which Wongus has defaulted.She requested $1,000 cash bail for a vandalism case where Wongus was alleged to have flattened the tires of his fiancee’s vehicle.Kaplan also requested Wongus’ bail be revoked on a 2013 drunken driving case where police found Wongus passed out behind the wheel of a car in a McDonald’s drive-thru. An open bottle of Hennessy was in the center console of the car and Wongus “appeared confused and very intoxicated,” Kaplan told the court.”This is the definition of someone who refuses to answer to authority,” Kaplan said.But Linski said her client didn’t realize he was being chased by police because officers were in street clothes and in an unmarked car.”Seeing strange people approaching his vehicle and noting that Lynn is, at times, a dangerous place, he felt he needed to get to a safer place,” Linski said.She also cited the city’s dangerousness in saying two bullets on the street could hardly be attributed to her client. Linski noted potential charges should not factor into a bail request.Linski asked that Wongus not be held on prior charges and that a $2,500 cash bail be set for the new charges, noting her client was supposed to get married today in Salem.Judge Cathleen Campbell made that impossible. She revoked Wongus’ bail on the drunken driving charge, ordering him held without bail for up to 90 days. Campbell ordered $5,000 cash bail for the charges from the alleged car chase and $100 for the alleged vandalism.Wongus is scheduled to return to court June 3.