Man Charged After Multi-State Police Chase: MSP

PERRYVILLE, MD — Officials say they have arrested a man who drove at an officer in Perryville during a multi-state police chase that led to road closures in Cecil County and school lockdowns in Havre de Grace. A stolen vehicle prompted the three-state pursuit, according to Maryland State Police.

William H. Galvin Jr., 29, of Hughesville, Maryland, is charged with first and second-degree assault and second-degree assault on a law enforcement officer, Maryland State Police reported. U.S. Marshals and the Maryland State Police Apprehension team said they arrested Galvin without incident after 5:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 6, in a trailer in Front Royal, Virginia.

He will be held in Virginia pending extradition back to Maryland, according to authorities.

Police said Galvin bailed out of a vehicle near the CSX railroad tracks in Perryville after he led a police chase from Ocean City to Delaware and back to Maryland via Cecil County.

Police in Ocean City had initiated the pursuit of a white Toyota Tundra after 9:15 p.m. Thursday until it sped away on Route 90/Ocean City Expressway, according to The Aegis.

New Castle County police next spotted the stolen vehicle and chased it from the Glasgow area (MD 27 at US 40) to Interstate 95 until the Elkton exit, the paper reported.

Troopers from the North East barrack said they began pursuing a vehicle on MD 222 that had been reported stolen in Charles County at 1:45 a.m. Friday, and the chase continued into Perryville.

There, the stolen vehicle drove down by the CSX railroad tracks, where Perryville police officers followed, authorities reported. The driver turned around and drove toward the officers, who were on foot at the time, and at least one officer fired several rounds at the vehicle. Maryland State Police is handling the investigation into the officer-involved shooting, at the Perryville Police Department's request.

Authorities said in the aftermath that they did not know if the suspect was shot, but they believe he bailed out of the vehicle and ran into the wooded area near the train tracks.

Officers set up a perimeter to search for the suspect. Troopers from the North East and JFK barracks and the Perryville Police Department assisted, as did the Maryland State Police K-9 unit.

Officials said they believed he had left Perryville Friday morning.

"As of 7 a.m., we have information that the suspect in the morning's police action is no longer in the area," the town of Perryville reported before 8:30 a.m. Roads in Perryville had reopened, officials said, and schools there were opening on time.

State police continued searching along with the Perryville Police Department, CSX police and the Delaware State Police.

Five schools were on a modified lockdown in Havre de Grace Friday morning from about 9 to 10:30 a.m. as a "proactive measure for events that are occurring in Cecil County," the Havre de Grace Police Department reported.

SEE ALSO: Lockdowns Lifted At Havre de Grace Schools After Police Activity