Osterlund Apprehended in Cleveland

A man who escaped East Ridge Police Custody last Thursday has been apprehended in Cleveland.

According to ERPD Chief Clint Uselton, Joseph Osterlund was captured by Cleveland and Bradley County authorities on Tuesday morning. He was taken into custody without incident, officials said.

ERPD officers had performed a traffic stop on Osterlund on Camp Jordan Parkway on the evening of March 23 when they discovered in his possession 1,000 pressed pills (3.5 grams total weight) believed to be Fentanyl. When the man was transported to the Fire and Police Service Center he escaped custody and took off on foot.

The escaped suspect allegedly stole a car on Boyd Street and was able to flee the area. Officials said the stolen vehicle has yet to be recovered.

Chief Uselton said that Osterlund is potentially facing sever felony charges in Bradley County and it may be some time before he is returned to East Ridge to account for his actions in the jurisdiction.

About Dick Cook

Dick Cook has lived in East Ridge since the Kennedy Administration when his parents bought a house on Marietta Street. Dick graduated from ERHS in 1976 before going on to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where he studied Political Science. Dick worked for the Chattanooga Free-Press and the Chattanooga Times Free Press for 22 years. Free-Press Sports Editor Roy Exum plucked him out of production in 1989 and gave him a job as a sports reporter. Dick covered everything from prep sports to the whitewater events on the Ocoee River for the 1996 Olympics. When Chattanooga's two paper's merged, he became the Crime Reporter covering both the Chattanooga Police and Fire Departments. He was among reporters who were honored by the Associated Press for the TFP's coverage of the 2002 fog-shrouded crash on I-75 in Catoosa County, Dick and his wife, Cathy, live on Marlboro Avenue where they are seen frequently chasing around their three grandsons.