A sentencing hearing scheduled for Wednesday for a Mercer County man who pleaded guilty to a felony drug possession charge was continued after he was arrested Tuesday night when state police said he fled from troopers while driving under the influence of a controlled substance.

Dakota Joseph Hinchberger, 21, of Sharpsville was facing a prison sentence Wednesday after pleading guilty Aug. 3 to a felony charge of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.

He was scheduled to appear in Common Pleas Court to be sentenced. The charge was filed by state police, who said he sold crack cocaine to a confidential informant on July 26, 2022 in Prospect. Terms of the plea agreement were not revealed in court.

Assistant District Attorney Ben Simon was granted a continuance after he told Judge Timothy McCune that Hinchberger had been arrested Tuesday night following a police chase, and was in custody in the county prison.

Hichberger could see additional time in state prison for the charges filed following Tuesday’s arrest, Simon said.

Tuesday’s incident began just before 9 p.m. when a trooper saw and began following a dark blue Chevrolet Equinox on Euclid Road in Clay Township after receiving a tip that Hinchberger was driving that vehicle, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed by police.

After confirming Hinchberger was wanted on multiple warrants and had a suspended license, the trooper said he continued following the car to the intersection of Saint John and Halston roads and activated his emergency lights and siren.

Hinchberger fled, reaching speeds of 120 miles and hour, swerving and driving through multiple stop signs and one red traffic signal without stopping, police said.

The pursuit continued for about 26 miles through Clay, Brady, Slippery Rock and Cherry townships before a precision immobilization technique was used on Route 8 near Kiester Road and the vehicle came to a stop, according to police.

Police said he admitted to ingesting a controlled substance while he was driving.

Hinchberger was charged with a felony count of fleeing police, a misdemeanor DUI charge and 10 summary traffic violations, including driving with a suspended license. He was arraigned by District Judge Sue Haggerty and placed in the county prison in lieu of $50,000 bail. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 19 before District Judge Lewis Stoughton.

Hinchberger, who has previously lived in Rochester in Beaver County and Pittsburgh, was wanted on bench warrants from two criminal cases, according to court records. One case stemmed from a July 18, 2022, incident in which Butler police charged him with drug possession and public drunkenness after finding him lying under a guardrail on West Jefferson Street with two bundles of suspected heroin in his possession. In the second case, state police charged him with possession of a small mount of marijuana and drug paraphernalia following a June 2021 incident in Butler Township.