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HANOVER TWP. — A man who allegedly abducted a teenage girl and stole a Nanticoke City police cruiser that resulted in an hours long search Sunday is dead, state police at Wyoming said.
Jordan Oliver, 20, was killed by deadly force in a wooded area along Tomko Avenue in Hanover Township, near the boundary line of Warrior Run.
Samara Derwin, 15, was unharmed during the exchange.
An amber alert was issued by state police at about 9:30 p.m. Sunday, about six hours after Oliver allegedly kidnapped Derwin. The amber alert was cancelled about one hour later when Oliver and Derwin were located along Tomko Avenue.
According to a state police news release and court records:
Two Nanticoke police officers responded to a parking lot of Greater Nanticoke Area High School finding Oliver holding the neck of Derwin and a knife to her throat.
Oliver threatened to harm Derwin if officers got closer to them.
Police in court records say Oliver held Derwin and began to walk toward the baseball field. Derwin managed to escape Oliver’s grasps and was instructed by officers to sit inside the police cruiser.
An officer deployed a Taser that had no impact.
Oliver sprayed mace in the officers’ faces and jumped into the police cruiser with Derwin.
Police allege Oliver drove the police cruiser at one officer who was nearly struck. The officer fired his service revolver at Oliver who fled the school’s parking lot, court records say.
An amber alert was issued for Derwin that included a warning Oliver was armed and dangerous. About one hour after the amber alert was issued, it was canceled after Oliver and Derwin were found in a wooded area of Warrior Run.
A perimeter was set up by troopers with the Special Emergency Response Team.
During the exchange with SERT troopers, Oliver was killed and Derwin was freed and unharmed, according to the news release.
An autopsy is scheduled Tuesday.
Prior to the use of deadly force, state police obtained an arrest warrant signed by District Judge Joseph Halesey in Hanover Township charging Oliver with four counts of aggravated assault and one count each of kidnapping for ransom, theft and unlawful restraint.
Court records say Derwin, through her mother, filed a protection from abuse application against Oliver on May 7.
According to the PFA application, Oliver struck Derwin several times in the head during an argument on May 6. Oliver threatened to kill Derwin if she obtained a PFA against him.
Oliver sent Derwin messages on social media claiming he was walking around her house and he was armed with a knife, the PFA application says.
The restraining order was in effect until June 18, 2022.
Court records say Oliver violated the restraining order six times by contacting Derwin between May 7 and May 20.
During one of the alleged violations, Derwin claimed Oliver would not stop texting and calling her with Oliver saying he was going to show up at her house and shoot himself in front of her.
A court hearing on the alleged PFA violations, which was continued several times, was scheduled to take place Dec. 17.
A former girlfriend of Oliver’s obtained a PFA against him in August 2017, alleging he threw a cell phone at her causing an injury to her head, and harassed her 13 times at her place of employment in Nanticoke, court records say.
Oliver was arrested for violating the 2017 PFA order when he continued to send threatening and harassing text messages to the former girlfriend.
When he was arraigned for violating the PFA in 2017, Nanticoke police said Oliver flipped out in the magisterial courtroom in Nanticoke when he was told by the district judge he was going to jail for lack of $25,000 bail. One of the officers in the courtroom when Derwin flipped out is Derwin’s father, Patrolman Michael Derwin.
Court records say Oliver tensed up and refused to place his hands behind his back when told by Officer Bryan Kata. Oliver fell to the floor during a struggle with Kata and Officer Derwin and Oliver’s father, Sean Oliver, claimed his son was having a panic attack.
Oliver came out of the panic attack and continued to struggle with officers, kicking walls and the judge’s bench, court records say.
Oliver pleaded guilty to a single count of resisting arrest and was sentenced Sept. 7, 2018, to one year probation.
Court records also say Oliver was sentenced to six months probation on Sept. 10, 2018, for drunken driving after fleeing a crash on Interstate 81 in Jenkins Township on Oct. 9, 2017.
State police said Oliver had an alcohol level of .118 percent in his blood stream after the crash, court records say.