LOWELL, MASS. (WHDH) - A Nashua, New Hampshire, man who was wanted for failing to appear in court to face a felony drug charge hit two police cruisers Wednesday night during a wild car chase that started in the Granite State and ended in Lowell, officials said.
Robert Ayles, 36, appeared in Lowell District Court Thursday morning and pleaded not guilty to a slew of charges in connection with the two-state chase. A judge ordered him held without bail.
Ayles fled in a Toyota Camry when he was spotted by Nashua police officers about 7:16 p.m., according to police. When officers tried to stop him in nearby Hudson, he allegedly hit two police cruisers and fled the area.
The nearly 20-mile chase came to an end a short time after police said they were forced to deflate Ayles’ tires with a spike strip.
“While this car was in the state of New Hampshire, he rammed multiple police cruisers,” prosecutor Lyndsey Davis said. “By the time he had gotten into the city of Lowell, he was operating on a car that had no front tires and was grinding on bare rims.”
Davis also said that several people were injured in a crash in Lowell, including a child.
“Whenever you have someone using a motor vehicle, ramming it into two police cars, it’s obviously a dangerous situation and a concern for officer safety and for the general public,” Hudson Police Officer Davot Cayot said.
Ayles, who has a 34-page rap sheet, is no stranger to the law, according to Davis.
“Ranging in charges from bail jumping, driving-related offenses, drug-related offenses, violations of probation, attempts to obstruct government administration, assaultive type charges,” Davis explained.
No officers were injured in the incident.
Ayles is due back in court at a later date.
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