Peabody man arrested following State Police chase through Lynn

LYNN – A judge ordered a Peabody man held without bail after State Police said the man nearly ran over several troopers while fleeing a sobriety checkpoint on the Lynnway, leading an early-morning chase through downtown Lynn.”At Walnut Street … he suddenly and deliberately turned to the left to deliberately try to strike police officers, again,” Assistant District Attorney Mark Byron said Monday in Lynn District Court.Donald R. Sauve, 56, of Peabody, was arrested and charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, three counts; assault on a police officer, three counts; failure to stop for police; operating under the influence of liquor; reckless operation of a motor vehicle; a marked-lanes violation; speeding; and failure to stop.Sauve was arraigned in Lynn District Court Monday where a not guilty plea was entered on his behalf.State Police at a sobriety checkpoint on the Lynnway issued an alert at 2:15 a.m. Sunday that a vehicle had fled a motor vehicle stop, nearly running over two troopers, Byron told the court.”As troopers approached the vehicle the operator shouted a profanity and then accelerated,” Byron said. “The troopers had to jump to the side of the road to avoid being struck.”Troopers reported trying to pull over the car again further down the Lynnway. Byron said a cruiser with lights flashing pulled into the road in front of the suspect vehicle – estimated as traveling 55 miles per hour in a 35-mile-per-hour zone – and the suspect vehicle swerved to drive directly toward the cruiser, forcing it out of the way. Cruisers pursued the suspect car off the Lynnway and through downtown Lynn, Byron said, relaying a chase that traveled along streets including Blossom, South Common and Chestnut streets while pulling U-turns on Market Street and on City Hall Square.While on Western Avenue, cruisers tried to pass the suspect vehicle to surround it, but the driver swerved at police vehicles again, Byron said.He told the court the suspect vehicle finally came to a stop when the car in front of it stopped at a red light. He said the suspect, identified as Sauve, had to be physically removed from his vehicle and was combative with officers. Sauve had a “noticeable odor of alcohol” which “intensified when put in the cruiser” and his blood-alcohol content was above the legal limit, Byron said.He requested Sauve be held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing at a later date when the state troopers could testify.Court-appointed attorney Mary Teczar requested a further date for the hearing at the urging of Sauve’s private attorney, whom she said could not be present Monday.Sauve is scheduled to return to court Wednesday for a dangerousness hearing.