Officer injured in car chase says suspect was twitching, nervous

DEDHAM, Mass. — FOX25 brought it to you live as a runaway driver allegedly dragged a police officer with his car, and nearly mowed-down drivers, before trying to escape in to an apartment building.

It all ended with the car engulfed in flames, and the suspected driver, Michael LeBlanc, in custody.

At a dangerousness hearing Monday, FOX25 learned that the 26-year-old Abington man is battling a heroin addiction.

"He had attempted to take my life at the beginning of this pursuit.  He was obviously able to use his vehicle as a weapon and was putting people in harm's way,” Walpole Police Officer Matthew Crown said.

In April, Crown received a call from a town employee who spotted two suspicious people on top of a town dam. Crown said he arrived and approached LeBlanc, who he says gave him false information about his name and birth date. Crown also says LeBlanc had paperwork that didn't match the registration of the car he was in.

"On my initial approach, he appeared to be very nervous, he had what appeared to be elevated heart rate, heavy breathing. He was flush.  He just seemed very twitchy and nervous,” Crown said.

Crown asked LeBlanc to step out of the vehicle. Instead, he took off.

"I had my left hand on the window, and as the window went up, it trapped my hand as he was driving away,” Crown said.

He was dragged about 225 feet.

"I did make eye contact with Mr. LeBlanc. He kind of sarcastically shrugged his shoulders at me and said sorry and proceeded to press the accelerator harder. I could hear the engine rev and the car start to move faster,” Crown said.

Crown says in the midst of this high speed chase, police used live SkyFox video to track LeBlanc's vehicle when patrol cars lost sight of him.

"At that time, we were informed by dispatch that they were able to keep an eye on Mr. LeBlanc's location because a news helicopter was over it and was broadcasting it live,” Crown said.

Crown says before it was all over, there were countless near-misses that put police and the public in grave danger.

LeBlanc will be held without bail until his next court appearance on June 6.

Cox Media Group