With speeds reaching more than 100 mph, and a police helicopter monitoring the chase from the sky, authorities arrested a Rhode Island man on multiple warrants Thursday afternoon.
BOURNE, MASS -- A dramatic high-speed police chase that began late Thursday afternoon on the South Shore ended about a half-hour later on Cape Cod, where a wanted man was taken into custody after wrecking a stolen car outside the state police barracks in Bourne.
The made-for-Hollywood chase at points reached speeds of more than 100 mph, with multiple law enforcement agencies and a police helicopter joining the pursuit.The incident ended when 24-year-old Nicholas J. Marshall crashed a black Volkswagen SUV at the Bourne Rotary, just yards from the police barracks.
Initial reports indicated the Johnson, RI, man was carrying a loaded shotgun, but investigating officers said they did not recover a weapon at the crash site. The vehicle Marshall was driving was reported stolen in Rhode Island, police said.
"It was amazing, just amazing. I've never seen a car going that fast," eyewitness Stacy Grass told The Cape Cod Times.
Marshall, who was wanted on several outstanding warrants, suffered minor injuries after rolling the SUV. He was charged with multiple offenses, including speeding, failure to stop and operating to endanger.
According to police, Marshall had several active arrest warrants, including a fugitive-from-justice warrant from Massachusetts and theft warrants issued by authorities in Rhode Island and Pennsylvania.
Marshall was treated for minor injuries at Falmouth Hospital, where he remained under police guard Thursday evening. Arraignment information was not immediately available.
Authorities described a dicey chain of events beginning on Route 495 in Mansfield and ending when Marshall lost control of the SUV after soaring over the Bourne Bridge. State troopers immediately converged on Marshall and took him into custody, police said.
No officers were injured in the incident, but two cruisers sustained paint damage after a minor collision at the end of the chase, police said.
Mansfield police initiated the pursuit around 5:50 p.m. Thursday, with state police joining several minutes later. As Marshall fled south on Route 495, he drove over a strip of stop sticks -- devices placed onto the roadway by police to puncture and slowly deflate the SUV's tires. Police said Marshall continued to drive with two punctured tires, however, merging onto Route 25 and crossing the Bourne Bridge.
State police said they closely monitored speeds, traffic volume and density of surrounding areas throughout the chase. A helicopter from the Massachusetts State Police Air Wing monitored the pursuit from the sky.
State Police Major Anthony Thomas praised troopers for following proper pursuit protocol and taking a "dangerous suspect" into custody without injuring civilians.