HAVERHILL, MASS. (WHDH) - A wanted man with an “extensive criminal history” who triggered a massive manhunt Wednesday morning when he fled from a vehicle that was involving a police chase has been caught.
The suspect, identified as 27-year-old Elias Sudler, was flushed out of a wooded area on Carleton Street around 2 p.m. after he was bitten by a police dog, according to state police. He was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Video from the scene showed Sudler handcuffed to a stretcher with a bandaged head after the search, which lasted about four hours.
Sudler, who police say was wanted on warrants for stalking, sexual assault, and witness intimidation out of Suffolk County, allegedly tried to reach for a gun in a backpack when the pursuit came to an end near a CVS on Route 97 but he was unsuccessful.
After Sudler fled, troopers were able to secure the backpack and recover the weapon, according to police.
A trooper attempted to stop a 1996 Chevrolet S pickup truck in which Sudler was a passenger for an inspection sticker violation but the driver, a 35-year-old Quincy man, failed to stop, police said.
Sudler took off when the truck pulled over. The driver was taken into custody. His name has not been released.
A spokesperson for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office confirmed that Sudler is the subject of a July 10 indictment charging him with stalking and sexually assaulting a former romantic partner in Boston earlier this year. When fit to be transported, he will be arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court.
Sudler is expected to be booked on fresh charges later Wednesday and is slated to appear in court Thursday.
Dozens of local and state police officers, a state police Airwing crew and K9 teams assisted with the search.
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