JAY – A Wilton driver is accused of trying to elude police Monday night after an officer tried to stop his speeding truck on Route 4, police said.

Jesse L. Herrin, 23, was arrested on charges of felony eluding an officer and misdemeanor driving to endanger, Jay Police Chief Larry White Sr. said Wednesday.

Residents told Cpl. Jeffrey Fournier the direction the truck went and Fournier intercepted it at the intersection of Davis Road and Route 156 heading toward Wilton, White said.

“At no time was this a high speed chase,” White said.

The incident began about 6:45 p.m. when Fournier spotted the speeding truck, he said. Fournier turned the cruiser around and activated the lights and siren in an attempt to stop it. He could see the truck passing other vehicles on the road, White said.

Fournier lost sight of the vehicle but a vehicle had pulled over near the Macomber Hill Road intersection and directed police up the road.

Pedestrians walking on Macomber Hill Road told Fournier the truck had passed them at a high rate of speed. At the end of the road at the intersection of Franklin Road, also known as Route 133, another citizen informed him that the truck had taken a left, White said.

Fournier eventually spotted the truck, and the driver pulled it over and denied it was the one the officer was searching for.

Herrin was arrested and taken to Franklin County jail in Farmington. He posted $500 cash bail and was released later in the evening. He is scheduled to appear on Nov. 19 in a Farmington court.

Without the citizens help, White said, the truck would have gotten away.

dperry@sunjournal.com