High-Speed Chase, Home Break-Ins Suspect Indicted

A local man has been indicted in Rockingham Superior Court on charges alleging he tried to roughly one week after breaking into two different homes, according to the Hampton Union.

Keith Babcock, 30, of Seabrook, faces indictments for reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon and disobeying a police officer in connection to the April 5 chase, and indictments on two counts of burglary and one count of criminal mischief for a March 29 burglary in Candia and a March 30 burglary in Atkinson, according to the Hampton Union.

Babcock allegedly stole a computer, iPad, jewelry and other items from a Crown Hill Road home during the Atkinson burglary, and later pawned some of the jewelry in Hampstead.

The April 5 chase, which at times surpassed 100 mph and included a 90-mph-stretch in a 45 mph zone, started in Massachusetts after Haverhill police attempted to pull over Babcock's vehicle and found an arrest warrant for the Atkinson burglary, according to police.

Babcock attempted to flee on foot and scale a fence after police used spike strips to puncture the suspect's tires in Amesbury, Mass. Authorities have said they needed to use pepper spray to get Babcock to surrender.

An indictment is not an indication of guilt or conviction; rather, it means a grand jury believed there was sufficient evidence to warrant a trial.

Babcock also still has charges pending in Massachusetts, including fugitive from justice, failure to stop for police, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, assault with a dangerous weapon, speeding, and resisting arrest charges, as well as a marked lanes violation, according to the Hampton Union.