ROCHESTER –– A high-speed chase involving a 26-foot U-Haul box truck in the early hours of Aug. 5, ended with the arrest of a man wanted in connection with a theft in Sanford, Maine.
Michael D. Bennett, 30, of Sanbornville, was taken into custody after fleeing multiple police departments across New Hampshire and Maine.
The pursuit began when officers from North Berwick, Maine Police Department attempted to stop the truck related to the ongoing theft investigation in Sanford.
The U-Haul, with Arizona registration plates, was initially stopped by North Berwick Police Department officers.
However, after the original operator exited the vehicle, the passenger, later identified as Bennett, took over the control and fled the scene, nearly hitting the original operator.
Multiple police departments, including the Wells, Maine Police Department, the Berwick Police Department, and the Rochester Police Department, pursued the U-Haul truck before it entered into Rochester.
Trooper Nathan Sleight of the New Hampshire State Police spotted the U-Haul on Lowell Street in Rochester at approximately 12:23 a.m.
Despite attempts to stop the vehicle, Bennett fled prompting another pursuit which ended in Milton, after Officer William Bachert of the Milton Police Department successfully deployed tire deflation devices.
Bennett, who was the lone occupant in the U-Haul, was eventually apprehended by Trooper Sleight’s K9 partner “Kaiser” after he fled on foot into a nearby wooded area.
Bennett, who was already the subject of an outstanding no-bail warrant issued for absconding from drug court supervision, was charged with a number of crimes including reckless conduct, operating after certification as a habitual offender, and resisting arrest.
Trooper Sleight was assisted by numerous agencies including the Milton Police Department, the Somersworth Police Department, the Barrington Police Department, and the Rochester Fire Department.
The incident remains under investigation by Trooper Sleight in collaboration with the Sanford, Maine Police Department and the North Berwick, Maine Police Department.
Anyone with information relating to the investigation is asked to contact Trooper Sleight.
