A man wanted for violating a restraining order led police on a wild chase through the Redbrook development in South Plymouth Tuesday, panicking neighbors who gathered outside to see if they were in danger.
The man, Matthew Julian, ran through residents’ yards, jumped over fences, barely eluded a police dog as he climbed over a fence, and fled into woods before police finally caught up to him on Azalea Lane.
About a dozen officers, including Abe the dog, from the Plymouth County sheriff’s department, were involved in the chase, which began at around 8:30 a.m. State police in a helicopter tracked Julian’s movements, broadcasting his whereabouts to officers on the ground. They caught the episode on video, which culminated with an apparently exhausted Julian raising his arms in surrender and slumping to the ground.
The incident began when a resident of the apartment complex in Redbrook told police that Julian, her former boyfriend allegedly chased her she was driving away from the complex. She has a court order forbidding him from contacting or approaching her.
He caught up to the car, opened a door, and begged her for money and a ride, she told police. She tried to call 911 but he allegedly grabbed her neck and told her to stop yelling. She managed to break free and call 911 and he fled, leading police through the winding roads of the development.
While Julian was still at large, police asked South Elementary School officials to issue a “stay in place” order, the police report said.
Julian, 35, who had four open warrants and previous convictions, was charged with violating an abuse prevention order, disturbing the peace, resisting arrest, assault and battery and witness intimidation.
He was held on $5,000 cash bail and warned that he could not be freed until he appears in Wareham District Court on three outstanding warrants, according to court records.
Andrea Estes can be reached at andrea@plymouthindependent.org.