NASHUA – A Friday afternoon police pursuit believed to have begun in Amherst came to an end without any apparent injuries in the parking lot of Hayward’s Ice Cream, where more than a dozen people standing in line for a hot-weather treat suddenly saw a parade of police cruisers fill the lot and surround an SUV.

They watched as officers from Amherst and Nashua approached the vehicle and take into custody the person driving the SUV, and escort him to the back seat of one of the Amherst cruisers.

Details of the pursuit are few at this time, but it appears Amherst police were initially involved in the pursuit on Route 101A.

Jeffrey Hastings, a freelance photographer, videographer and reporter, said he was exiting the parking lot of the Amherst Walmart onto Route 101A when an allegedly speeding vehicle nearly clipped him as he tried to merge onto the heavily-traveled road.

Hastings said three cruisers with lights and sirens activated zipped past him moments later. He said he followed the pursuit from a distance as it continued east on Route 101A, through South Merrimack and into Nashua, where the driver got onto the Everett Turnpike headed south.

He exited the turnpike at Exit 5, and, according to police radio broadcasts, led police down several side streets before eventually ending up at Hayward’s.

It’s not known what triggered the pursuit, or if the SUV was involved in any crashes along the way. The vehicle did show damage along most of its right side and drivers side door, and its rear bumper was hanging loose after part of it fell off on Robinson Road.

More information will be posted as it comes in, along with photos by Hastings.

–DEAN SHALHOUP

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