A 23-year-old Dresden man pleaded guilty to multiple charges Monday morning after fleeing from police in a stolen vehicle back in January.

Mark Cox, Jr. pleaded guilty to failure to comply with a risk of harm — a third degree felony — receiving stolen property, failure to comply — fourth degree felonies — possession of criminal tools, receiving stolen property (license plate) and receiving stolen property (verification tags) — all fifth-degree felonies.

According to Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Taylor Bennington, on Jan. 30 the Zanesville Police Department was notified by a person that his white 1999 Honda Civic had been stolen. A patrolman with Zanesville Police Department recognized the vehicle entering the ramp from Sixth Street onto I-70 where the officer pulled the driver over.

The driver, later identified as Cox, sped away from the officer after being pulled over. A pursuit ensued to Blue Avenue to Adair Avenue to OH-146 before Cox pulled the vehicle over to the Dollar General and began to flee on foot.

Cox was later arrested.

While officers were searching the vehicle, they found a license plate, as well as plate verification tags belonging to two separate owners along with tools that had been involved in the theft.

After pleading guilty to his charges, Cox waived his pre-sentence investigation and requested to be sentenced.

Judge Mark Fleegle followed the joint recommendation between the State and the defense and sentenced Cox to 30 months in prison.

During his chance to speak, Cox apologized and said he was ready to move on from this portion of his life.

“(I) just apologize to Zanesville and everything and everybody put in harm’s way,” he said.