AUBURN — A high-speed chase that started downtown Sunday night and wound its way out to Minot and back into Auburn ended the way police wanted, according to Deputy Chief Jason Moen.

“It was a textbook chase,” Moen said. “It ended safely, all the proper rules and regulations were followed and nobody got hurt.”

Police arrested Richard Labonte, 36, of Auburn on felony charges of eluding an officer and operating a motor vehicle after having his license revoked for being a habitual offender and for reckless conduct.

Moen said officers observed a vehicle heading the wrong way down a one-way portion of Pleasant Street near the Androscoggin County Jail at about 9 p.m. They tried to pull the vehicle over, but the driver headed up Court Street and onto Minot Avenue.

The chase, reaching speeds of up to 80 mph, led police out of Auburn along Minot Avenue, onto Empire Road and back into Auburn and past the Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport on Lewiston Junction Road.

Police placed a spike strip on Hotel Road just beyond the Littlefield Bridge and Labonte’s car hit it. With the car’s tires flattened, the driver turned onto Merrow Road and onto Fletcher Road, finally stopping at about 174 Fletcher Road.

staylor@sunjournal.com