A Haverhill man is facing several charges in two cities after police in Groveland say he allegedly stole a Jeep Cherokee and caused an accident at Nicole’s Mini Food Store last week.
Carson Hamilton spent the weekend behind bars on drug possession and motor vehicle-related charges stemming from a Thursday Haverhill Police arrest, and now Groveland Police tell WHAV more charges are on the way after they tied him to last week’s convenience store accident.
Groveland Police Chief Jeffrey Gillen told WHAV he intends to charge Hamilton with leaving the scene of property damage, driving with a revoked license and receiving stolen property in the wake of the Sept. 11 accident at the School Street strip mall.
Hamilton was ultimately taken into custody Thursday, Sept. 12 after multi-town chase that spanned Haverhill and West Newbury.
Haverhill Patrolman Cory Baldera was dispatched to the area of East Broadway and Millvale Road at 12:36 a.m. for a report of an erratic driver and found a man later identified as 22-year-old Hamilton behind the wheel of a 2013 white Hyundai Sonata heading toward Merrimac at a “high rate of speed.”
Baldera was unable to stop Hamilton despite using his lights and sirens and observed him crossing the double yellow line several times reaching speeds of 65 miles per hour before slowing down and speeding up again. Hamilton also allegedly failed to stop at an intersection with a posted stop sign.
Once Hamilton crossed into West Newbury, that town’s Officer Kyle Roy assisted Baldera with the pursuit. Both men followed Hamilton until his car stopped in the area of 2 Church St. and he fled up an embankment, according to Baldera. Once catching up with him, the Haverhill officer “bear-hugged” Hamilton to prevent him from fleeing and, with the assistance of Roy, handcuffed him.
Booked at West Newbury station, Hamilton told police the car he was driving was his aunt’s. Inside the sweatshirt he was wearing at the time of his arrest police found 97 green and yellow pills believed to be Alprazolam separated into two plastic bags, which Hamilton did not have a prescription for. Police also seized a bag of marijuana.
At arraignment, Haverhill District Court Judge Mary McCabe imposed a $25,000 cash bail for Hamilton on charges including driving with a revoked license and failure to stop for police. He next appears in court in early October. It is not clear when he’ll be arraigned on the Groveland charges.
No stranger to Haverhill or Groveland Police, Hamilton was arrested on similar charges back in August 2017. At that time, police say he allegedly broke into Groveland and Boxford homes, led police on a chase in one stolen car and finally crashing a second stolen car into a tractor-trailer in Haverhill.