BERLIN — A New Jersey man was arrested on drunk-driving charges on Monday afternoon after a high-speed chase that reached speeds over 100 mph on Route 50 ended with the suspect crashing his vehicle after driving over stop sticks.
Around 2 p.m. on Monday, the Maryland State Police Berlin barrack received a call reporting an alleged intoxicated driver in the area of Routes 50 and 589. MSP troopers responded and located the suspect’s vehicle and attempted to stop the driver, later identified as Dale Ronald Elderidge, Jr., 45, of Woodstown, N.J. Elderidge did not pull over and a high-speed pursuit was initiated.
Worcester County Sheriff’s deputies assisted in the pursuit by deploying stop sticks. The pursuit continued for nine miles and lasted roughly six minutes. The chase ended when Elderidge’s vehicle drove over the stop sticks deployed by the sheriff’s deputies and crashed shortly thereafter.
Elderidge was taken into custody without further incident and was not injured in the single-vehicle crash. There were no injuries to law enforcement officers and no damage to police vehicles. However, there were injuries to other motorists whose vehicles were struck during the high-speed chase.
Elderidge was charged with DUI and related traffic offenses. He was taken before a District Court Commissioner in Snow Hill and was ordered to be held on a $5,000 bond.