SOMERSET, Mass. — Somerset Police have charged two Fall River men with fleeing from an officer during a traffic stop and from the scene of a crash on Sunday.
Police said they were called around 1:30 p.m. to the Somerset Creamery for a report of two men acting suspiciously while sitting in an SUV in the parking lot. An officer said he spoke to the two men, later identified as Kevin Ploude and Scott Hazel, and sent them on their way.
As the two men were driving out of the parking lot, the officer ran the SUV’s license plate and learned Ploude had a suspended driver’s license.
The officer chased after the men, but called off his pursuit a short time later as speeds reached more than 80-miles-an-hour. The men also drove through a red light at the intersection of President Avenue and Devol Street while the officer was in pursuit.
The officer stopped the SUV on the on-ramp to the Veteran’s Memorial Bridge. As he walked up to the SUV, he said he noticed Ploude was holding a handgun. The men then sped off heading south on Devol Street into Fall River.
The officer continued down Devol Street, but at a normal rate of speed.
Paul Bulens told Boston 25 News he was driving in the area and saw the police chase from the start. He said he raced ahead to block traffic, fearing the worst.
“It’s a busy area,” Bulens said. “There’s a state park over there. There’s always a lot of people walking. There’s a couple of businesses in the area, so it’s an area where there’s going to people out and we’re like, this can’t end well.”
Bulens said his actions likely saved the life of a man on a motorcycle
“I pass everybody, I get up ahead, I block traffic and luckily I did because the guy on the motorcycle would have gotten hit by the vehicle had I not stopped in front of him,” Bulens said. “He didn’t see the car coming. He would have been at the right place at the wrong time.”
Bulens and his friend, Steve Medeiros, captured the the crash on camera.
Their cell phone video shows the SUV do a 360 before coming to a stop in the middle of the road by the Cove Restaurant and Marina.
“We saw them get tossed around the front of the car,” Bulens said.
Both Ploude and Hazel then jumped out of the SUV and ran.
The cell phone video shows Ploude run back and grab something from the ground before he kept on running. Police said the item he grabbed was the handgun.
A short time later, police said they found Hazel walking down Route 79 and arrested him. He was brought to a hospital to be treated for non-life threatening injuries he suffered from the crash.
A witness told police Ploude jumped off the boardwalk and into the Taunton River. Officers found fresh footprints leading down a tunnel underneath the boardwalk. A police K9, along with the Fall River Harbormaster and a Fire River Fire boat searched the area, but couldn’t find Ploude or the gun.
Police towed the SUV from the scene and said they found several items believed to have been stolen from local businesses inside.
Around 6 p.m. the same night, a Fall River police officer found Ploude walking near the boardwalk. He was soaking wet. Police said Ploude tried to run, but the officer caught up to him and arrested him. He was brought to a hospital to be treated for non-life threatening injuries. He was then taken to the Somerset police station where he refused to take part in the booking process.
Ploude, 33, was arraigned in Fall River District Court Monday on charges of assault by firearm, failure to stop for police, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, receiving stolen property and operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license.
Hazel, 36, was issued a summons to appear in court at a later date on a charge of receiving stolen property.