Malden police pursue suspect on road, roof
A 34-year-old Malden resident accused of leading police on two mayhem-filled car chases before crashing his vehicle in a strip club parking lot and fleeing to a nearby trailer allegedly leapt from roof to roof before state troopers placed him under arrest.
When Malden cops showed up at Obieze Ochendu’s house to arrest him for allegedly smashing the windows out of parked cars, he fled out the back door and jumped into his Chevy Impala, nearly striking two officers as he made his getaway, Malden police Capt. Marc Gatcomb said.
The chase, police said, was called off due to safety concerns.
When officers returned to Ochendu’s house yesterday morning, he provided officers with information that prompted them to call for a tactical response team, Gatcomb said. As they were preparing to enter the house, police said Ochendu fled once again in his car.
As he sped through Malden a second time, police said Ochendu hit an unmarked Malden police car before leading cops on a chase through Malden, Saugus, Lynnfield and into Peabody, where he crashed his car in the parking lot of the Golden Banana strip club and ran on foot into a nearby trailer park.
When state troopers tracked Ochendu to the roof of a trailer home, he surrendered without incident. No officers were injured during the pursuits.
Police said Ochendu was sent to Melrose-Wakefield Hospital for evaluation, where he was arrested on charges including assault on a police officer and malicious destruction of property.