WESTFIELD – An Agawam man who led police from three agencies on a merry chase during the small hours of Friday morning finally stopped, about a mile after his tires were damaged by police “stop strips,” to face relatively minor traffic charges.
Southwick police advised their Westfield counterparts, at 2:23 a.m. Dec. 20 that a dark colored sedan had fled from one of their officers and might be expected to enter Westfield via Southwick Road.
Westfield’s patrol officers were advised and Officer Elijah Wolfe reported moments later that a vehicle which might have been the suspect vehicle had failed to stop for a red light at South Maple Street and was heading east on East Silver Street.
Officers Bryan Turgeon and Kevin Gabryel joined in the pursuit and the car was determined to be the vehicle Southwick police had reported.
When the fleeing car reached the end of Silver Street the operator, later determined to be Vitaliy K. Oliyevskiy, 18, of 2 Corey St., Agawam, turned right on to South Meadow Road at a high rate of speed, driving thorough tobacco fields on the gravel road which connects to Ponders Hollow Road at the tin bridge.
The fleeing car continued north on to South Board Street but police were waiting. Officer Matthew Schultze reports that, working with the assistance of a state trooper, he had deployed stop strips — metal bars with protruding spikes designed to deflate tires.
Although the suspect car struck the strips, the operator continued to flee and drove the damaged car for about a mile, going north on Broad Street and then to Elm Street, turning at Bartlett Street before finally stopping at the intersection of Mechanic and Meadow streets.
Turgeon reported, at 2:31 a.m., that two persons had been taken into custody.
Southwick police were consulted and reported that the vehicle had originally drawn the attention of an officer because it was operating without a front registration plate. That officer reported that, when he prepared to attempt a traffic stop, the car fled north on College Highway at a speed estimated to be about 100 mph.
At the stopped car, Oliyevskiy was identified as the driver and his license was found to have been suspended. Gabryel reports he was arrested for operating motor vehicle with a suspended license, failure to stop for police, reckless operation of a motor vehicle, speeding in violation of special regulations and for two stop sign violations.
A criminal complaint, Gabryel reports, was filed against an 18-year-old passenger.
The car was towed to the police impound yard.
