STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — State Police say that a suspect is in custody following a police pursuit that ended in Western Massachusetts. State Troopers and negotiators were on the scene after the suspect spun out just before the New York border.
According to police, the pursuit stopped on I-90 westbound just before Exit 3 in Stockbridge around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday morning.
The suspect, 48-year-old Kevin Oldaker of Poplar Grove, Illinois, was wanted on felony warrants out of Maine and Illinois.
Shortly before 7:30 a.m. this morning, Oldaker was spotted by a State Trooper sleeping in the back of a car at the Charlton Service Plaza on the Massachusetts Turnpike. The car, a 2011 Mitsubishi Endeavor, was stolen out of Biddeford, Maine.
The Trooper approached the car and asked Oldaker to step out. After claiming he couldn’t find his keys, the suspect suddenly turned on the ignition and sped away westbound on the Pike. Mass State Police immediately began pursuing the vehicle.
Oldaker evaded police using crossovers in Chicopee and again in Ludlow. He got off the highway in Ludlow, then re-entered a short time later, continuing west.
The pursuit continued, even after police deployed stop sticks on the Mitsubishi Endeavor. The chase finally ended in Stockbridge, approximately 3 miles from the New York border, when Oldaker’s vehicle suffered a flat tire.
After a brief standoff with State Police, he was taken into custody just after 9:00 a.m.
Oldaker is wanted on two extraditable warrants, one out of Maine issued a week ago for violent stalking. The other warrant is from February 2014 out of Illinois, on charges of home invasion and sexual assault.
He was taken to an area hospital for evaluation immediately following his arrest. He will be transported to the Worcester County House of Corrections to be held overnight pending an arraignment tomorrow.
All lanes on the Mass. Pike are reopened and traffic is moving again, according to MassDOT.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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