A Boston man led several police departments on a roughly 20-mile car chase through Massachusetts and New Hampshire on Thursday with his five children in the vehicle, authorities said.
At around 11:42 a.m., officers in Plaistow, New Hampshire were told by the Haverhill Police Department in Massachusetts to look out for a blue Honda Odyssey, according to a statement from the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office in New Hampshire.
Police initially reported a man, identified Thursday evening as 29-year-old Alpalus Slyman, had thrown the woman from the car while in Massachusetts, but authorities later noted the woman, identified as Slyman’s wife, had actually jumped out of the vehicle.
“We learned after everything calmed down and we did some interviews the wife had jumped out of the car amid all the chaos,” Rockingham County Chief Deputy Al Brackett told MassLive.
About 15 minutes after being told to be on alert for the Honda, a deputy with the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office saw the car traveling in the northbound lanes of Route 125 near Route 107, according to law enforcement.
Authorities attempted to halt the minivan, but the car refused to stop. The sheriff’s office said it was then told by Haverhill police that the incident was being livestreamed from inside the suspect’s vehicle.
In multiple videos Slyman livestreamed on Facebook, people in his car can be heard crying and screaming, asking the Boston man to stop the vehicle and telling him he is driving like a “mad man.”
At one point, Slyman claimed his neighbors were spies. He also posted earlier Thursday morning the coronavirus was manmade and that former President John F. Kennedy faked his death.
“Our dispatchers were able to connect to the feed and advise deputies and officers that passengers in the vehicle were in distress and needing help,” the sheriff’s office said. “Deputies and officers from several agencies continued to pursue onto Route 101 east.”
Stock sticks, a tire deflation device, were eventually deployed and blew out the Honda’s ties. The vehicle still drove off Route 101 via Exit 12, struck another car and continued to flee. The pursuit continued at a low speed through North Hampton, New Hampshire, according to authorities.
The minivan was eventually boxed in by a car from the sheriff’s office. After being trapped by police, the suspect rammed one of the cruisers with his vehicle. Slyman is accused of driving into a tree and finally coming to a stop around 12:17 p.m. near 10 Exeter Rd., law enforcement said.
By the time the chase was over, the suspect had driven nearly 20 miles through nine communities, Brackett said.
Slyman was taken into custody without incident and brought to the Rockingham County Jail in Brentwood, New Hampshire for booking, according to the sheriff’s office.
The five children in his car included an 8-month-year-old, a 1-year-old, a 2-year-old, a 5-year-old and a 13-year-old, authorities said. They were all uninjured.
“The five children belonged to the suspect and were reunited with their mother at the scene,” the sheriff’s office said.
The suspect, who is a Dorchester resident, was charged with three counts of felony reckless conduct, conduct after an accident and disobeying an officer. Slyman was expected to be arraigned by video in Rockingham County Superior Court on Friday.
The sheriff’s office thanked Haverhill police for their help as well as eight law enforcement departments in the granite state, including those in East Kingston, Kingston, Brentwood, Stratham, North Hampton, Epping, Exeter and New Hampshire State Police.