Pittsfield Police Arrest Erratic Route 8 Driver
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A North Adams man who led police on a high-speed chase Monday was taken into custody after trying to flee on foot.
A "be on the lookout" had been issued Monday afternoon for a 2018 blue Subaru Legacy that had been driving erratically and reportedly caused an accident on Route 8 near Unistress. The BOLO was canceled just before 3 p.m. when the driver was taken into custody by Pittsfield Police.
Police Chief Thomas Dawley wrote Tuesday that dispatch had begun receiving calls at about 2:14 p.m. that a vehicle had struck a pole in the area of 550 Cheshire Road. Officers were alerted that another vehicle had caused the accident and that it was continuing into the city at a high rate of speed.
The car passed several vehicles and was "driving extremely dangerously and committing several traffic violations," he wrote, as it traveled toward Merrill Road and New York Avenue.
Officers attempted to stop the vehicle but lost sight of it at East and Fourth Street.
Dispatch began receiving calls that the vehicle was on South Street and was stopped in the area of Guardian Life. The driver got out and ran south, but officers were able to apprehend him and take him into custody without incident.
Dawley said the operator is facing motor vehicle violations and pending charges; the incident is under investigation.
The name of the driver was not released but according to the BOLO, the Subaru's plate went back to a North Adams man. He was reportedly having a mental health incident, according to scanner reports.
According to scanner reports on Monday, the driver had been southbound at a high rate of speed, estimated at up to 90 mph, and weaving in and out of traffic at least since Cheshire.
A poster on Facebook recounted being nearly being hit by a southbound vehicle on Route 8 by Cheshire Reservoir. The driver "crossed the double line, speeding, passing all of the traffic heading towards Pittsfield, and came a mere foot away from smashing into me head on," she wrote in North Adams Chat. She said she was able to brake and swerve to avoid him.
Other commenters said the Subaru nearly hit them near Unistress, where the accident occurred.
It was the erratic driving that apparently caused the crash at the Pittsfield line. Dawley said no one was injured in the crash. The Subaru did a U-turn and headed back north, then turned and headed south again.
Complete write-thru with updated information from Pittsfield Police on Tuesday, 7 p.m.
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