Enfield
Christopher O’Dwyer, 42, allegedly drove a stolen pickup truck in excess of 100 mph on interstates 93 and 89 before surrendering in Enfield after spike strips completely ripped the tires off of the vehicle, according to a state police news release.
O’Dwyer faces felony reckless conduct and receiving stolen property charges as well as misdemeanor counts of disobeying an officer and conduct after an accident.
He is being held at the Merrimack County House of Corrections.
Police say they tried to stop O’Dwyer around 11 p.m. Tuesday night when he drove through a Londonderry construction zone at a high rate of speed.
O’Dwyer, however, refused to pull over and continued to drive north on Interstate 93 at speeds of up to 115 mph, according to the release.
Cpt. Gregory Ferry said the truck was reported stolen out of Boston.
Police unsuccessfully deployed spike strips twice before a third attempt near Exit 2 in Concord popped the vehicle’s front tires. But O’Dwyer kept on speeding north on Interstate 89, police said.
“Several additional successful deployments of tire deflation devices left Mr. O’Dwyer driving the truck on heavily sparking rims with tire debris littering the roadway,” the release states. “Some sparks created several small brush fires prompting the New London Fire Department to respond to extinguish the flames.”
The chase ended near Mile Marker 48.6 in Enfield when the vehicle broke down because of its tires’ condition.
Police took O’Dwyer into custody without incident.
There were no injuries. One police cruiser sustained minor damage from hitting tire debris during the chase, the release states.
The Sutton, Bradford, New London and Sunapee police departments also assisted state police with the chase.