Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS After the driver was taken into custody, a police officers from Amherst and Nashua inspect the damaged vehicle involved in Friday's pursuit, which ended at Hayward's Ice Cream in Nashua. Amherst police haven't released any information on the incident.

NASHUA – Information regarding the circumstances of the Friday police pursuit that apparently began in Amherst and ended in an arrest at Hayward’s Ice Cream in Nashua had yet to be released as of Sunday evening.

An Amherst police dispatcher on Sunday directed a request for information to the voice mail of Chief Mark Reams, an indicated he wouldn’t be available until Monday.

Reams, as of Sunday evening, had not responded to the voice message. An attempt on Saturday to reach him by email was also unsuccessful.

What is known about the incident is that shortly after 2 p.m. Friday, Amherst police attempted to stop a vehicle on Route 101A, reportedly due to suspected driver impairment.

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.

Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS An Amherst police officer describes Friday's pursuit to a Nashua officer after the driver was taken into custody at Hayward's Ice Cream in Nashua. Amherst police haven't released any information on the incident.

Hastings said two or three cruisers, their lights and sirens activated, passed him moments later. According to police radio traffic he heard at the time, the driver increased his speed when the pursuit crossed into South Merrimack at the intersection of Route 101A and Boston Post Road.

Police reported speeds approaching 90 mph as the vehicle continued into Nashua, and when it reached Peters Nissan dealership near the intersection of Amherst Street and Charron Avenue, it allegedly struck a vehicle in the parking lot then continued east on Amherst Street.

Pursing Amherst officers reported the vehicle struck a curb, flattening the right front tire as the driver turned onto the Everett Turnpike headed south.

Amherst officers asked for assistance from State Police at that point, according to Hastings. The driver took Exit 4, turned left onto East Dunstable Road, and then turned onto Robinson Road.

Speeds had slowed to about 40 mph by that time, Hastings reported. He also said two or three Nashua police units followed the vehicles but did not join in the pursuit.

Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS After the driver was taken into custody, an Amherst police officer begins to photograph and inventory items in the SUV involved in Friday's pursuit that began in Amherst and ended at Hayward's Ice Cream in Nashua. Amherst police haven't released any information on the incident.

Moments later, the driver turned into the Hayward’s Ice Cream parking lot, where numerous customers standing in line to order food and ice cream watched as two Amherst officers blocked the suspect’s vehicle with their cruisers.

The officers removed the driver, a man who is otherwise unidentified, took him into custody and placed him in the back of one of the cruisers.

No injuries were reported.

It’s not known what triggered the pursuit, or if the suspect vehicle was involved in any crashes besides the collision at Peters Nissan.

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.

Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS Several Amherst and Nashua police cruisers surround the SUV involved in a pursuit Friday that ended at Hayward's Ice Cream in Nashua. Amherst police haven't released any information regarding the incident.

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Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.