CARLISLE TWP. — Rescue squads responded to a rollover accident on Middle Avenue by the railroad tracks in Carlisle Township overnight that left a vehicle heavily damaged, according to first responders.

The one-car accident happened about 12:15 a.m. According to the State Highway Patrol, a report is not complete, and the trooper who handled the crash has gone home, so they will have no information to release for a day or so. An Elyria police spokesman did not return a call seeking comment.

According to initial reports, occupants of the vehicle were fighting in the roadway after the accident. Officers who arrived on the scene reported that at least two people from the vehicle were seen running from the scene.

Not long after, a homeowner on Middle near the tracks reported individuals were hiding in pine trees in her backyard. She said she could hear one screaming “Come help me!”

Police quickly apprehended a black male who said his name was “Bud.” He told officers the man who remained at large was his boyfriend.

Elyria police sent a canine unit to the scene. Officers believed the man who they were seeking lived on Delaware Circle in the nearby Colonial Oaks Mobile Home Park and might have been headed home. An Elyria fire engine was called to the scene to provide lighting.

The Highway Patrol later reported that the vehicle owner was waiting at the Colonial Oaks entrance and claimed his vehicle had been stolen. It was not immediately clear if that was the same man they were looking for or whether either was located.

Officers checked several homes in Colonial Oaks and also reported they were going to search a barn on Middle Avenue at a homeowner’s request.

The Carlisle Township Fire Department was also called to the scene.

Check back at Chroniclet.com for more on this story as it becomes available.