IL Man Leads MA Police On State-Spanning Chase

CHARLTON, MA — An Illinois man in an SUV stolen from Maine led state police on a chase Wednesday morning that spanned nearly the entire state.

The incident began near 7:30 a.m. when a trooper discovered an SUV at Charlton rest stop along the westbound side of the Mass Pike that had been stolen from its owner in Biddeford, Maine. A man sleeping inside declined to speak to the trooper, and then turned the ignition on and sped off.

The driver, Kevin Oldaker, 48, sped west, evading police until he jumped off the freeway in Ludlow, state police said. When he got back on the Mass Pike, police used a device to deflate the SUV's tires. Even with one flat tire, Oldaker made it to Stockbridge, just short of the New York border.

The chase shut down both sides of the highway in Stockbridge after Oldaker still refused to get out of the SUV. He was eventually arrested around 9 a.m. on warrants for stalking, sex assault and home invasion from Illinois and Maine, police said. State police were expected to bring additional charges against Oldaker related to the chase.