BARNSTABLE, MA- Man charged in chase with stolen excavator

BARNSTABLE, MA- A 24-year-old Hyannis man led Barnstable police on a wild but slow chase last night as he drove a stolen excavator erratically down Pitchers Way.

Five police officers tried to get Christopher Lunn to stop the 20,000-pound piece of construction equipement, but they said Lunn directed the machine at them and ended up hitting two telephone poles around 11:20 p.m.

He almost made it to Route 28, 1,070 feet from where he started out by the Jiffy Lube at Bearses Way, said Barnstable Police Sgt. Sean Sweeney.

Officers driving alongside Lunn and running in the road were yelling at him, Shut it off. Shut if off, Sweeney said. He kept driving. He wouldnt stop.

Police shot at him three times with a bean bag shotgun, shattering the window of the CAT excavator, and hitting Lunn in the shoulder and head or nose, Sweeney said.

They didnt know whether he was going toward houses. He started going toward a house at one point. Hed been drinking, Sweeney said. Bean bag projectiles are softer than bullets and are generally considered non-lethal.

Lunn continued driving the excavator toward police officers and hit the second telephone pole before coming to a stop, Barnstable police said.

Lunn was arrested on charges of larceny of property and five counts of assault by dangerous weapon for allegedly driving at the police officers. Drunken driving charges didnt apply because it wasnt a registered motor vehicle, Sweeney said.

After being taken to Cape Cod Hospital for treatment of cuts to his face and a welt on the shoulder area, Lunn was released to police custody and is due to be arraigned in court this morning, Sweeney said.

Excavator owner Eugene Dubis arrived on the scene last night and was able to drive the machine back to its construction site. The 2004 CAT is back at work this morning installing underground pipes on Pitchers Way, Sweeney said. NStar was notified about minor damage to the telephone poles, police said.
Cape Cod Times

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• stolen
• excavator
• barnstale
• police
• massachusetts
• david
• curran
• cape
• cod
• satellitenewsservice.com