WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — An Orford teenager led police on a high-speed pursuit on Sunday night that stretched from Claremont to Hartford and ended when police deployed spike strips on Interstate 91, according to authorities.
Around 11 p.m. Sunday, Claremont police attempted to pull over a driver operating a Dodge pickup truck without its headlights on Mulberry Street. The driver refused to stop, said Claremont Police Chief Brent Wilmot, and instead fled from the police with three passengers through Claremont and onto northbound I-91.
The driver’s speed varied throughout the 21-minute chase, starting at about 30 mph in a residential neighborhood and reaching 90 mph on the interstate, Wilmot said Monday by phone. The interstate speed limit is generally 65 miles per hour.
In addition to speed, there were also lane control issues during the pursuit, Wilmot said, but the juvenile’s motive for evading police remains under investigation.
Wilmot declined to share the name and age of the driver.
Police may pursue a vehicle into another state if impairment is suspected and communicated over dispatch, said Wilmot.
Dispatch notified the Hartford Police Department of a suspected DUI pursuit, said Hartford Detective Lt. Tom Howell.
Hartford officers deployed spike strips on the highway as a means of disabling the vehicle by slowly deflating its tires, said Howell.
Near Exit 11 into White River Junction, the driver ran over the spikes, which rendered two tires ineffective. The driver came to a controlled stop on Sykes Mountain Avenue near Beswick Drive, and was taken into custody by Claremont Police, a Hartford Police news release said.
The vehicle involved in the chase is listed as belonging to a 25-year-old male, said Wilmot.
“We’re actively trying to determine what sort of permission that (the driver) had to have the car at the time,” said Wilmot.
The juvenile, who Wilmot said had an Orford address, has not been charged yet. He was held at Claremont Police Station for about two hours on Sunday night until a parent arrived to retrieve him, said Wilmot.
