Police release charges for man arrested after three-state chase
The man who was apprehended in North Stonington on Wednesday afternoon after engaging police in a pursuit that began in Massachusetts and continued across Rhode Island has been charged with reckless driving, engaging police in pursuit, failure to drive in the proper lane, interfering with an officer, extradition arrest and first-degree reckless endangerment, Connecticut State Police said Thursday morning.
Ian Grant, 36, of 111 Prospect St. in Dartmouth, Mass., was held on a $800,000 bond and was scheduled to appear in New London Superior Court on Thursday, police said. He will face further charges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Police said that in Massachusetts earlier Wednesday, Grant fled after New Bedford police tried to stop him to serve several outstanding arrest warrants.
He is also the suspect of an arson that occurred earlier that morning at his home. Dartmouth Fire District 1 said in a news release that they were dispatched at 5:45 a.m. Wednesday for a reported structure fire and "arrived within minutes to find the house engulfed in flames." There was nobody in the house.
Fire Chief Peter Andrade told 12 News he saw Grant taking photos of the fire and asked if Grant would stick around to talk to firefighters or police, but then Grant got in his truck and took off.
Grant escaped Massachusetts State Police after driving the wrong way on Route 195, but then Rhode Island State Police began a pursuit after spotting Grant's white pickup truck in Newport, police said. He showed what appeared to be an assault rifle while troopers pursued.
Grant ultimately drove from Route 78 in Stonington onto Route 2 in Stonington and then North Stonington, where Connecticut State Police disabled his vehicle just north of the Interstate 95 entrance. Aerial footage from Sky 5 shows a cruiser performing a maneuver that involved approaching the truck from the left and hitting its side in the back, causing the truck to veer off the road.
Police said Grant refused to leave his truck and an hour-long standoff ensued before Connecticut and Rhode Island troopers removed Grant from his vehicle and placed him in custody. Police said they used pepper spray and tear gas to get Grant out, and video shows police pulling him through the window of his truck.
Grant was taken to Backus Hospital in Norwich for evaluation and then to Troop E in Montville.
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