Staff report

WARREN — A Youngstown man pleaded guilty and was sentenced Tuesday to two years in prison for leading Liberty police on a chase in a stolen vehicle Dec. 29, 2025.

Leighland D. Johnson, 41, of Dupont Street, entered his guilty plea to charges of failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer and felony vandalism before Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Judge Sarah T. Kovoor, who sentenced him to consecutive prison terms totaling 24 months.

The case stemmed from Dec. 29, 2025, when Johnson was driving a reported stolen vehicle and sideswiped a Liberty police cruiser trying to stop him. The chase proceeded along residential areas of the township at speeds of 60 mph.

The chase continued into Youngstown with speeds of 95 mph on Fifth Avenue and up to 100 mph on Interstate 680 before Johnson’s vehicle was lost in traffic, according to a police report. Johnson later turned himself in.

Because of the high speeds of the chase, the judge ordered Johnson’s driver’s license to be suspended for the rest of his life. She also ordered him to pay restitution of $2,288 for the damage done to the Liberty police cruiser.