Canaan man faces charges after driving away from Lebanon police impound lot

LEBANON — A 39-year-old Canaan man entered the Lebanon police impound lot and drove off in his truck that had been impounded and then led police on a vehicle pursuit until the man and the truck were located later in Canaan.

The man was spotted inside his truck in the impound lot last Saturday where the truck had been taken pending a warrant search following his arrest on a DWI charge the day prior, according to a news release from Lebanon police. The man refused commands to exit his truck and then drove off with police cruisers in pursuit, police said.

But police said they abandoned the pursuit due to the man’s “high rate of speed and reckless driving.”

Later, both the driver and truck were located later in Canaan, where the suspect, who had been currently on probation and facing other criminal charges pending in New Hampshire, was taken into custody, police said. 

The man is being detained in Grafton County jail following his arraignment on Monday in Lebanon District Court on felony counts of falsifying physical evidence and burglary, as well as misdemeanor counts of contempt and criminal trespassing, according to Lebanon police.

Saturday’s incident is not the first time someone trespassed into Lebanon’s police impound lot in search of their confiscated vehicle. In 2022, a Vershire man was taken into custody by police after he was found inside his BMW that had been seized following his arrest on a drug charge the day prior.