Mar 30, 2015 3 min read

A former South Strabane Township man was treated for frostbite after allegedly running, shoeless, from Peters Township police during a traffic stop early Saturday.

Bobby Leon Cook, 26, of Washington, was a backseat passenger in a car driven by Glenda Cottrill, 29, of Washington when it was stopped about 2:30 a.m. for speeding on Turkeyfoot Road near Church Hill Road.

While speaking with Cottrill, police said they smelled marijuana. The officer looked back at Cook and said he could see a plastic bag containing what appeared to be marijuana sticking out of the pocket of his sweatshirt. Cook handed the officer the bag of marijuana, police said.

The officer was again talking with Cottrill when police said Cook got out of the vehicle and began to urinate. The officer told Cook several times to get back in the car. Cook then allegedly started walking up toward a tree line before running in the direction of Bebout Road as the officer yelled for him to stop.

While police chased Cook, Cottrill allegedly drove off. Police said her wrecked vehicle was found abandoned a short time later in a wooded area nearly a mile away along the 600 block of McClelland Road in Finleyville.

About an hour later, police were called to the 300 blocks of Equestrian Drive and Bridle Trail after receiving reports of a man knocking on doors and asking for money. Police responded just after 4 a.m. to a call about a man on the porch of a house in the 200 block of Fox Run Drive.

Twenty minutes later, a Peters Township Ambulance crew spotted a man waving them down for assistance on Turkeyfoot near Bebout. Cook, who had abrasions on his face, told the ambulance workers that three men had thrown him from a car. Police arrived and identified Cook as the man who ran from the traffic stop. Before his arraignment, he was taken to UPMC Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh for treatment of frostbite.

In addition to being wanted on an Allegheny County probation warrant, he is also on state parole in connection with a 2008 home invasion in Washington. Temperatures early Saturday were in the teens.

Cook was sentenced in September 2010 to four to eight years in prison followed by five years of state probation for allegedly forcing his way into a home in the 600 block of Broad Street. Cook and another man reportedly demanded money from the residents. When the residents did not comply, Cook’s alleged accomplice, who has not been identified, pointed a handgun at the woman inside the house. Cook yelled at him to shoot her. The gunman fired one shot that went through a living room wall, traveled across the street and into a house in the 500 block of Broad. The bullet passed within inches of three children and lodged in a couch where a child had been sleeping.

In the latest case, Cook was arraigned before District Judge Jay Weller on charges of loitering and prowling at night, escape and possession of marijuana. He was placed in Washington County Jail on $25,000 bond. He also is in jail on the state parole violation. A preliminary hearing is set for April 7 before District Judge James Ellis.

Police are seeking Cottrill on charges that include driving with a suspended or revoked license and fleeing or eluding police. She also has an outstanding warrant from the Washington County Adult Probation Office, police said.

Almanac staff writer Suzanne Elliott contributed to this report.