CECIL COUNTY, Md. — An attempted arrest after a Cecil County Sheriff’s deputy spotted a stolen truck was cut short when his weapon discharged and the suspect fled in the vehicle with police in hot pursuit.
“All of the sudden, I see two cops come by and my husband hollers at me to come in,” said Melissa Pierce of Rising Sun, “He says, ‘There’s a car chase going on!’ He saw the truck go by and all the cops. We had 19 cops go down my road.”
Police used stop sticks to disable the truck on Principio Road sending the out-of-control vehicle into a barren, corn field where the man later identified as 44-year-old Paul Bouchelle, Jr. ran off into the woods.
Police called in reinforcements and began searching for him, catching deliveryman roger grubb off guard during his normal rounds.
“About four or five SUVs come pouring into the parking lot and the cops get out,” said Grubb, “They’ve got their full vests. They’ve got their guns. They’re here pointing them and then they start hunkering down and they start running towards the back of the building and you can hear a couple of gunshots at the back behind the building.”
Hours later, police took Bouchelle into custody, but now investigators are also looking into why three law enforcers in all fired their weapons during the ordeal.
“It was crazy and everyone started coming out from Floral Plant Growers and they told them to get back in the building and everything,” said Grubb, “I’ve been doing this for 31 years and I’ve never seen anything quite like this before, but it was pretty mind-blowing.”
It remains unclear whether Bouchelle was armed or whether any weapons were found, but residents in the area, like Kathy Dougherty, said they never feared for their safety while the suspect was on the loose.
“I wasn’t worried,” said Dougherty, “There were so many cops and everything out here. Why would I be worried?”
If you have any information, which could help investigators, you’re asked to call the Maryland State Police North East Barrack at 410-996-7800.
