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PITTSTON – Three police officers and a man who was a fugitive from justice had to be rescued from a 30-foot embankment after a brief chase Tuesday evening.

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Marc Keating of Pittston is taken into custody on a stretcher after being rescued from a ravine in Pittston following a brief chase. He and three police officers had to be rescued from a 30-foot embankment after Keating, a fugitive wanted in Louisiana, fled after a traffic stop, police said.

Aimee Dilger/the times leader

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The incident that led to the arrest of Marc Keating of Pittston started during a routine traffic stop on the Pittston Bypass in front of Galli’s Auto Sales just after 7 p.m. in Pittston.

Keating was stopped for a stop sign violation, said Pittston Township police Officer Peter Hockenberry, who conducted the stop.

Assistant Chief Darrin Bidwell of the Hughestown Police Department was called out to assist.

Keating, who provided officers with his operator driver’s license number, ran away after officers learned he was wanted on felony drug warrants in Louisiana.

Hockenberry, a rookie officer on the job for three months, ran after Keating, who slid down a steep embankment which runs into an old creek bed.

“I kept giving him commands to get down, but he just kept running,” said Hockenberry, who suffered a cut on his leg.

Bidwell, who did not suffer injuries, said he got into his truck and chased the suspect onto the other side of the ravine. When Hockenberry went down the embankment, Bidwell went down the hill after him. A Jenkins Township police officer also assisted in the chase.

The three officers and the suspect could not get back up the steep embankment, said Bidwell, a 15-year veteran officer.

Firefighters were called and threw a rope to Bidwell, who was about halfway up the embankment. The two officers and the suspect were rescued by a basket stretcher.

Hockenberry and Keating were transported to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center, Plains Township.

Keating was charged Wednesday morning with escape and resisting arrest. He was jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $4,000 total bail. He was also charged with being a fugitive from justice in which he is wanted in Louisiana on drug charges, according to arrest records.

An extradition hearing is scheduled in Luzerne County Court on Nov. 25. A preliminary hearing on the escape charges is tentatively scheduled on Nov. 24 before District Judge Diana Malast in Plains Township.