SANFORD, Maine — Maine State Police say 38-year-old Douglas Heath had been sought in Maine following a police chase that originated in Sanford two months ago.
Still wanted by Maine police, Heath was found by police in New Hampshire Monday and killed during an alleged roadside shootout.
According to police on June 11, Sanford police officers tried to pull him over because of a drug warrant that was issued in New Hampshire, but he took off.
Maine State Police say Heath led Sanford and State Police on a chase along Route 202 from Sanford to Lebanon, Maine.
“It was definitely nothing you experience on a day to day basis up here for sure,” Kevin Normand, the general manager of Robertson’s Sports and Goods Inc., a business that sits off of Route 202, said.
Normand says two months ago, officials used his parking lot to catch someone.
“They were talking about putting up a spike strip, something along those lines, to be able to stop him before getting any further and hurting somebody,” Normand said.
State Police say they chased Heath’s car for a couple of miles, but stopped because of the public’s safety and because they knew he was the driver.
His vehicle was later tracked to a home on Second Street in Lebanon, where police say he was living at the time.
Police say he ditched the car and took off on foot. They say he may have been picked up by someone.
Deirdre Roaf has lived on Second Street for 20 years.
“It makes you want to not necessarily be out after dark,” Roaf said. “It seems to be when I’d be more nervous.”
Roaf says she’s recently seen a heavier police presence in her dead-end neighborhood.
“We usually see them come up and go down so being nosey, I peak down the thing and I see they in the driveway of that particular house,” Roaf said.
Monday, in Rochester, New Hampshire, police say they spotted Heath’s vehicle and tried to pull him over. He eventually crashed at the intersection of Route 125 and Oak Street.
Investigators say he got out of the passenger side and exchanged gunfire with police, and was shot and killed.
The news is shocking to some Mainers who may have encountered one of the original incidents with Heath.
“It’s unfortunate for everybody involved for sure you know,” Normand said. “But hey, you’re wanted and they have to take care of business.”
“The drug epidemic, it just hits all aspects, it’s not just people who run from the police in car chases, it’s just hitting America everywhere,” Roaf said. “Even this quiet little neighborhood.”
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