MARION COUNTY — A 24-year-old Salem man was formally charged Tuesday in Marion County in connection with an incident early Monday morning where he’s accused of crashing a stolen pickup truck into a pond during a police pursuit near Central City.

Tristan Rankin reportedly swam away from the scene of the crash but was ultimately apprehended when a Centralia K9 unit tracked him to a heavily wooded area.

Rankin was initially transported to SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital in Centralia where he was treated for a broken collarbone and released to police.

He was then taken to the Marion County Jail and was formally charged Tuesday with Class 2 felony possession of a stolen vehicle and Class 4 felony aggravated fleeing police. The pickup truck was reportedly stolen in Flora.

At the time of his arrest, Rankin was free on bail agreements in 10 separate felony cases in a half-dozen counties dating back to October 2021. He was also scheduled at the time of his arrest for a July 12 pretrial hearing in an