Deputy says Prius fled at 124 mph

Update: Felony charges against Purcaroiu were dropped. He was fined $3,000 for misdemeanor charges that include obstructing a peace officer.

 

AUBURN – Marian Purcaroiu, 40, of Independence, Mo., was charged in June with operating a motor vehicle to avoid arrest in Nemaha County.

The charge was later reduced to attempted flight.

An arrest affidavit says a sheriff’s deputy clocked a Toyota Prius at 96 mph on Highway 136 and says the car accelerated to 124 mph after the deputy turned on the overhead lights of his patrol car.

The Prius was later found abandoned in Auburn. Witnesses told deputies they saw a man riding a bicycle and deputies say the bike was found in a yard near 10th and N streets.

Deputies learned someone was offering $50 for a ride out of town and located Purcaroiu at the Auburn High School parking lot.

He told deputies his car had been stolen, but deputies say they found the keys to the Prius in his pocket.