A man being chased by police for allegedly sexually assaulting a child in Farmington, Maine, died on Monday when his car sped over a spike strip and into a tree, police said.
Joshua Burdin, a 32-year-old from nearby Strong, Maine, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, which took place on South Strong Road in Farmington at about 6:30 p.m., according to Maine State Police.
The incident began just before 5 p.m. when sheriff's deputies were called to a home on South Strong road for a report that a child had been sexually assaulted, police said. Burdin, who had fled before the officers arrived, was immediately identified as the suspected assailant.
Just over an hour later, a sheriff's deputy spotted Burdin in a car in Strong and tried to stop him, but Burdin didn't pull over, leading deputies on what police described as a low-speed chase into Farmington.
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Farmington police had deployed spike strips, a device law enforcement sometimes uses to disable vehicles, on South Strong Road, officials said, and after Burdin drove over the spikes, he accelerated, then crashed into a tree.
Resources for victims of sexual assault are available through the National Sexual Violence Resources Center and the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-4673.
An autopsy to determine how Burdin died was pending, police said, and the crash remained under investigation.
Details on the sexual assault allegations weren't immediately available.
