Left to right: Dominick Revell in a booking photo and while being arrested (Franklin Police Department).
A Massachusetts man is behind bars after a nearly successful attempt to evade authorities this week, Bay State law enforcement says.
Dominick Revell, 54, stands accused of a litany of offenses including failure to stop for police, operating after suspension, speeding, leaving the scene of property damage, and two counts of reckless operation, among others, according to police in Franklin and Bellingham.
In a joint press release, one police department said it would be charging the defendant with “several” additional offenses while the other said it would be filing “multiple other” charges against him.
To hear police on the periphery of the greater Boston area tell it, Revell has an “extensive criminal record” and was wanted on active search warrants for “motor vehicle offenses and previous incidents.”
The latest alleged misadventure began on Monday morning, when a Bellingham officer tried to pull over a blue Ford Ranger “known to officers as being commonly operated by” Revell, police said.
“The vehicle failed to stop and a pursuit ensued, continuing into Franklin where officers from the Franklin Police Department joined the effort,” an earlier press release alleges. “During the pursuit, stop sticks were successfully deployed on Grove Street in Franklin, deflating the vehicle”s passenger-side tires.”
But, despite the obliterated tires, the Ranger kept on going — nearly traversing the entirety of the medium-sized town and even “briefly” inching near the Medway town line, police said.
The truck finally came to a stop on Pond Street in far north Franklin — but only after taking out “several mailboxes” during the pursuit, according to law enforcement.
“After stopping, the operator exited the vehicle and fled on foot,” the original press release goes on. “The suspect jumped over a fence, swam across a small river, and continued into a wooded area.”
After the two police departments “established a perimeter,” they called for additional help from their own drone operators and K-9 units from two additional law enforcement agencies.
The first press release ends by noting investigators “were unable to locate the suspect.”
Social media comments on the first press release, however, suggest Revell is a locally known entity and that his efforts to elude police are a running topic in the community. One Facebook user described the defendant as “an absolute Franklin legend” and used the insider phrase “if you know you know.” Another user, seemingly reflecting on the swimming and fence-jumping, said: “He’s gotten way more athletic in his old age.” Yet another user mused that Revell has “outrunned them” repeatedly and “embarrassed cops in many chases.”
The embarrassment was not long-lived this time.
On Tuesday evening, after a number of additional press releases were issued in which law enforcement both warned the public and requested its help, the Franklin Police Department announced that Revell had been arrested in Franklin.
“Revell was apprehended through the coordinated efforts of the Franklin and Bellingham MA Police and was taken into custody without incident,” the latest press release reads. “Following his arrest, he was transported to the Bellingham Police Department for processing.”
