By Jane Prendergast
The Cincinnati Enquirer

A North College Hill man was accused of car theft Tuesday with help from the stolen Cadillac's on-board tracking system.

The arrest followed an attack involving a professional athlete, a chase in the next state and a search for a possible murdered cousin.

Mark Hughes, 22, was arrested in Sadieville, Ky. Police charged him with taking a 2002 gold Escalade belonging to Steve Logan, the former University of Cincinnati basketball player drafted this year by the Golden State Warriors.

Mr. Hughes was charged with aggravated robbery, accused of using a kitchen knife to cut an acquaintance, Sidney Warren, about 11:40 a.m. at a house on Mound Street before the SUV was taken, police said. Mr. Logan, in Cincinnati while he recovers from an injury, was staying at the West End house.

Police said Mr. Hughes left a note that said he'd killed his cousin and that he wouldn't be taken alive by police. Sgt. Barry Carr suggested checking with OnStar, the vehicle's emergency system. OnStar found the vehicle, about 12:15 p.m., headed south on Interstate 75 in Northern Kentucky.

While Grant County officials followed the car and eventually made the traffic stop, Cincinnati officers spent hours trying to see if Mr. Hughes' cousin had been killed. They went to his Avondale apartment, spoke to the landlord and, in spite of what the note said, determined that Mr. Hughes' cousin, a student at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, was alive.

Mr. Hughes is to be extradited to Cincinnati.

Mr. Logan, 22, was the Warriors' second-round draft pick.

E-mail jprendergast@enquirer.com