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Alert Citizen Helps Authorities Catch Suspect In Police Chase

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BLAIRSVILLE (KDKA) -- An alert citizen helped state police catch a man who got away during a car chase through Indiana County on Friday.

The incident started in Burrell Township along SR-119 just after 9 a.m. when a state trooper pulled over a car that was going 25 mph over the speed limit.

The driver pulled over onto the shoulder of the highway, but when the trooper got out of his vehicle and began to approach the car, the suspect took off. The trooper chased the vehicle to the Waste Management Evergreen Landfill area, where the trooper lost sight of the suspect's vehicle.

The suspect's vehicle was later found unoccupied with the engine running along a nearby gas well road.

While authorities were searching the area on foot, a citizen called state police to report that they had just encountered a suspicious man who was wet and covered with mud. The citizen told police they gave the man a ride to the Blairsville Walmart Supercenter.

At the Walmart, employees showed troopers surveillance footage to help them track down the suspect, who troopers found the parking lot.

The suspect -- later identified as 20-year-old Edgard Fumbula, of McKeesport -- was placed under arrest. Troopers found 51 stamp bags of suspected heroin and a small amount of suspected marijuana in his pockets.

Fumbula is facing multiple charges, including drug possession and fleeing and eluding.

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