YOUNGSTOWN — Law enforcement outsmarted two young people Wednesday who thought they could escape police by fleeing in a vehicle.

Instead, Kaylen H. Gabbidon, 22, of Pine Valley Road in Columbus, the driver, was taken to the Mahoning County jail and was charged with felony fleeing and eluding, and several lesser misdemeanor offenses.

His passenger, Nevaeh E. Johnson, 18, of Melrose Avenue in Boardman, was detained for questioning and charged with misdemeanor obstructing official business, but later released. She will be arraigned today in Youngstown Municipal Court.

Gabbidon also will be arraigned today on the fleeing, plus misdemeanor charges of obstructing official business, driving under suspension and driving outside of marked lanes. If he is convicted of the fleeing, he could get several years in prison.

The episode began at 7:55 p.m. when a Youngstown police officer and a trooper in an Ohio State Highway Patrol vehicle saw a vehicle in front of them on Midlothian Boulevard on the South Side in the middle of the road, taking up both westbound lanes.

The trooper activated his lights and siren and tried to stop the vehicle near Elbertus Avenue. Gabbidon stopped the vehicle and an officer approached, but he noticed that Gabbidon still had his hand on the gear shifter and the car was in drive. Gabbidon started to put it in park, but then moved it back to drive and sped off, a police report states.

Other officers became the lead pursuit vehicle, which then traveled north on Glenwood Avenue at a high rate of speed, passing other vehicles and ignoring traffic signals. The pursuit was terminated for safety, but a highway patrol helicopter located the vehicle, relaying its location to officers on the ground.

Officers did not pursue the vehicle as it traveled through the South Side. The car stopped on Pyatt Street near Erie Street and the two people inside ran south into a wooded area. Officers then went to that area with a police dog, and a sheriff’s deputy located the two lying down.

Gabbidon told police he fled because he did not want to get out of his vehicle during the traffic stop and didn’t understand why he had to get out of the vehicle when the officer asked.

A state trooper found a firearm under the driver’s seat of the car, but Gabbidon said he was possessing it legally. The woman passenger of the vehicle was issued a summons and released. Gabbidon was taken to jail, and the firearm was seized.