New charges for Amherst man in July 30 incident that ended in Interstate 90 chase

An Amherst man arrested after leading authorities on a July 30 chase that ended off Interstate 90 in Westlake is facing three additional felony charges. Richard Roule Sr., 32, of Deepwood Lane, was indicted Friday on one count each of failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer, receiving stolen property and obstructing official business, all felonies, in Lorain County Common Pleas Court. The charges allege that Roule fled police in a stolen car on July 30, creating a risk of physical harm to the public. Defense attorney Mike Stepanik on Friday said he was "cautiously optimistic" about the new charges, as none of them involved a victim. "As I understand it, the initial allegation suggested he had assaulted or threatened someone with a gun, but I didn't see any of that in the indictment," Stepanik wrote in a text message. "That's why I'm not sure if the whole incident was indicted or not." Roule was being held in the Lorain County Jail on $355,000 bond, according to court records. On July 30, Roule allegedly was driving a stolen Nissan Sentra when he led Lorain County sheriff's deputies, state troopers and officers from Avon, Westlake and Rocky River on a chase on I-90 into Cuyahoga County. Roule got off the highway at Detroit Road in Rocky River, got back onto I-90 headed west, then exited again at Crocker Road, Westlake police said. He eventually pulled over on Clemens Road in Westlake, a street lined with several hotels. In full view of responding police and SWAT teams, Roule allegedly smoked illegal drugs, held a towel-wrapped cordless drill to his head to make officers think it was a gun and threatened suicide, authorities said. When Roule refused to surrender, a Westlake police K-9 was released. It bit him on the arm and he was arrested, hospitalized and jailed. Westlake police charged Roule with failure to comply and inducing panic, both misdemeanors, in Rocky River Municipal Court, according to court records. He hasn't been arraigned there yet. Friday's indictment was Roule's third in Lorain County this year. He pleaded not guilty to having weapons under disability along with multiple fentanyl and cocaine trafficking and possession charges across two cases filed earlier this year in Common Pleas Court, both of which are assigned to Judge Raymond Ewers. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.