BWC: Handcuffed man steals Maine PD cruiser, leads officers on pursuit before chaotic shootout

By Sarah Roebuck
Police1

PARIS, Maine — Newly released body camera footage reveals the chaos of a shootout that erupted when a handcuffed man stole a cruiser, led police on a pursuit and engaged in a gunfight with multiple officers, WGME reports.

The series of events unfolded on May 7 after the Paris Police Department received a report about a suspicious male, Bangor Daily News reported. The man was taken to a hospital, where he was treated for conditions unrelated to the arrest.

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After the man was checked out of the hospital, Paris Police Chief Mike Dailey transported him to the Oxford County Jail in South Paris. However, as Dailey attempted to remove him from the cruiser, the man slipped his handcuffs from behind to the front, jumped into the driver’s seat and stole the cruiser, Bangor Daily News reported. Dailey was thrown from the cruiser while attempting to prevent the suspect from escaping.

Officers from several agencies, including Norway, Oxford and Paris police departments, Cumberland and Oxford County sheriffs’ deputies, Maine State Police and Fire Marshals, pursued the suspect until he crashed the cruiser.

Body camera video shows officers confronting the suspect and exchanging gunfire, wounding him. Despite this, the suspect managed to steal an Oxford County Sheriff’s Office cruiser, driving a short distance before crashing again, video shows.

In the final confrontation with the suspect, officers fired bean bag rounds at the suspect before taking him into custody, video shows.

The suspect faces charges of two counts of theft, assault on a police officer, escaping, eluding and violation of bail.