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Ice breaks under fleeing driver, police

Police and the man they were pursuing all fell into the water as their chase ended on a frozen pond

Jeremy Hovey Leclair of Kittery faces charges of reckless conduct, disobeying a police officer, endangering the welfare of a child, resisting arrest, willful intereference with a police dog and reckless operation

MILTON, N.H. (NEWS CENTER) -- Police and the man they were pursuing all fell into the water as their chase across two states and several towns ended on a frozen pond.

Police said their dealings with 39-year-old Jeremy Hovey Leclair began in his hometown of Kittery on Thursday night when he used his pickup truck to try to force a police cruiser off the road and then sped off. After similar run-ins with police that night in Eliot and Dover, N.H, investigators said Hovey Leclair appeared to be trying to goad officers into chasing him.

As police gathered information on Hovey Leclair over the course of these encounters, they learned that his four-year-old son might be with him in the truck.

When Hovey Leclair was next spotted in Somersworth, N.H., police said they tried to maintain a safe distance while still keeping him in sight. As their concerns for the welfare of the child mounted, police said they decided to use a deflation device to puncture Hovey Leclair's tires.

Police said Hovey Leclair continued to drive on a flat tire until reaching a dead end road in Milton, N.H., at which point he ran off and left his son in the truck. Police said the boy was not hurt.

Two troopers and a police dog followed Hovey Leclair onto a frozen pond, but the ice could not support their weight and all of them fell into the water. Additional police helped rescue everyone from the water. None of the police required hospital attention, but Hovey Leclair was sent Frisbee Memorial Hospital. After being receiving treatment, he was next sent to Strafford County Jail.

The charges filed against Hovey Leclair include reckless conduct, disobeying a police officer, endangering the welfare of a child, resisting arrest, willful interference with a police dog and reckless operation. Additional charges are under consideration. Hovey Leclair is expected to appear in Rochester (N.H.) District Court on Friday.

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