Wanted Man Killed After Wild Chase From Massachusetts To New Hampshire
NEWTON, N.H. (CBS) - A wild one hour police chase that began in Malden ended in New Hampshire with the wanted man dead.
Police say Michael Brown, 40, of Presque Isle, Maine, fired at Massachusetts State Troopers during the pursuit, which ended when he crashed into a tree shortly before midnight.
Brown was wanted on sexual assault, firearms, and stolen motor vehicle charges in Maine.
He was spotted in Malden late Thursday night and a chase began, moving through several towns. At one point, Brown was driving the wrong way on Route 495, investigators said.
"In addition to firing at pursuing troopers, the suspect drove much of the pursuit on damaged tires after he struck stop sticks but did not stop," Massachusetts State Police spokesman Dave Procopio said in a statement.
The chase ended in Newton, New Hampshire near the Amesbury border when Brown crashed his pickup truck into a tree.
There was a confrontation and Brown was shot and killed, according to New Hampshire Senior Assistant Attorney General Jeff Strelzin, who said a weapon was found in Brown's truck.
"Following the crash a shots fired incident occurred and the suspect suffered a gunshot injury. Troopers discharged their weapons during that incident," Procopio said.
An autopsy has determined that Brown's cause of death was a single gunshot wound to the neck and the manner of death was ruled a homicide.
Massachusetts State Police are retracing the route of the pursuit to determine exactly where the suspect fired at troopers so they can collect evidence.
On Friday afternoon, Colleen Brown wept at the scene where her brother died, but she feared the moment would come because he predicted it. "He said that if he was being portrayed as a monster, then he wanted to go out as a monster," she said.
She has mixed emotions about the violent end to her brother's life. "Obviously he was running, he could have hurt a lot of other people by doing what he was doing," Colleen said.
