A Farrell man police say escaped from a halfway house, nearly ran over a Sharon policeman and then escaped from police custody pleaded guilty in Mercer County Common Pleas Court to charges stemming from two separate incidents.

Maurice Lamont Atwood, 34, pleaded guilty Jan. 15 to escape, two counts of recklessly endangering another person, two counts of endangering the welfare of children and one count of fleeing. Charges of aggravated assault and burglary were dropped.

Escape is a felony.

On Sept. 1, police on Weed and Seed patrol in the 800 block of Spearman Avenue in Farrell spotted Atwood, who was wanted by state police for escape from a halfway house Aug. 13.

When a policeman approached Atwood's car, he threw it in reverse and almost backed over the policeman, police said.

Atwood, who had two children in the car with him at the time, led police on a short chase before he was caught.

Several days later, Atwood escaped from Sharon police custody while he was smoking outside of the police station.

Police searched for Atwood for several hours.

Atwood took off his orange jail jumpsuit and was hiding in some bushes in the 400 block of Ohio Street in Sharon when police found him.