A car being chased by police on and off Interstate 93 in Massachusetts early Friday morning ended with a female passenger seriously hurt and the armed driver hiding in the woods of Wilmington, police said.
The driver, who had a gun, was arrested after a struggle when he was found more than five hours after the chase began, according to Wilmington police.
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The chase, which crossed town lines and went onto I-93 twice, began about 1:35 a.m. when a Wilmington officer tried to pull over an vehicle driving erratically about 1:35 a.m., police said.
The vehicle drove south onto I-93, leaving behind the officers. But it was spotted again a little while later on Lowell Street, where it tried to ram a police cruiser, officials said.
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More cruisers gave chase, following the vehicle onto I-93. It got off the highway at Exit 35 and crashed on Andover Street, police said. The driver fled into the woods, while the female passenger was left in the vehicle — she was taken to Lahey Hospital with serious injuries but is expected to survive.
State and local police canvassed the area for the driver, who was found about 7 a.m. off Andover Street and arrested as he tried to flee and struggled with officers, police said. He was identified as Ron Jeremiah Bell Jr. and was believed to have a gun.
He was due to be arraigned in Woburn District Court Friday on charges of assault with a dangerous weapon, carrying a firearm without a license, resisting arrest and drug possession. It wasn't immediately clear if he had a lawyer who could speak to the charges.
