Jun. 19—A Blairsville man is accused of leading Ligonier Valley police on a chase before crashing into one of their cruisers.

Travis M. Repinski, 28, of Blairsville was charged with aggravated assault, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, fleeing police, resisting arrest, reckless endangering, weapons violations and related traffic violations.

Police were called Monday to McCurdy Trail in Ligonier Township for a report of a man stealing diesel fuel from PennDOT vehicles. When they responded, a vehicle matching a description of the suspect’s was seen leaving the area on Route 259.

Police attempted to stop the vehicle, a Dodge Ram truck, but the driver would not pull over, they said.

During a subsequent chase, police said, the driver, later identified as Repinski, made a sharp right turn onto Matson Road, left the road and traveled down an embankment before reemerging onto Route 259, where he drove into the path of a responding police officer and collided with the cruiser.

Police said Repinski then jumped out of the truck and ran into the woods, where he was apprehended after a brief foot chase. Police said he also gave a fictitious name and birth date when initially questioned.

After securing the truck Repinski was driving, police found a loaded pistol and shotgun inside.

The truck’s registration did not belong to the vehicle, and its vehicle identification number tag had been removed, police said.

Repinski was taken to a local hospital, where police say he again tried to escape custody, injuring a Ligonier Valley officer and a hospital nurse in the process, according to police.

A search warrant for Repinski’s truck yielded two additional guns, and police said he is wanted on warrants out of the Westmoreland County Sheriff’s Office.

He was jailed in Westmoreland County Prison without bail. A June 28 preliminary hearing is set in District Judge Charles Moore’s Mt. Pleasant court.

An attorney for Repinski was not listed in court records.

Patrick Varine is a TribLive reporter covering Delmont, Export and Murrysville. He is a Western Pennsylvania native and joined the Trib in 2010 after working as a reporter and editor with the former Dover Post Co. in Delaware. He can be reached at pvarine@triblive.com.