Court Report: Boston Man Resolves Charges Stemming From 2021 High Speed Chase

This week's Current Court Report includes arraignments and dispositions from Tuesday's Nantucket District Court session. There was no court on Monday because of the holiday. It is led by a Boston man who came to an agreement with the Cape & Islands District Attorney's office to resolve charges following a high-speed chase in September of 2021.

Timothy Forbes Bigelow, 35, of Boston, will have Sept. 3, 2021 charges of using a motor vehicle without authority and reckless operation of a motor vehicle continued without a finding for one year. He was ordered to complete a Brains At Risk program, pay a $250 head-injury fee and $50 victim-witness fee. He was also found responsible for failing to stop for police and speeding and was ordered to pay a $500 fine on the speeding charge.

Charges of operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and improper operation of a motor vehicle stemming from the same incident were dismissed.

According to the police report, officer Robert Shield observed Bigelow driving a white Jeep Wrangler the wrong way down Orange Street making a beeline at his cruiser. Shield turned on his emergency lights to stop the motor vehicle and Bigelow promptly took a right turn onto Independence Way where he proceeded to drive down that road the wrong way as well.

Bigelow eventually made his way to the Milestone Rotary and Shield said that Bigelow increased his speed to over 80 miles per hour as he continued along on his ride.

The vehicle went off the road multiple times as Bigelow drove down Old South Road and officer Robert Shield said in the police report that Bigelow was going so fast that he began to see dirt kick up in the air in the area of Egan Lane due to the speed of the car.

The chase continued onto Arrowhead Drive when Bigelow finally decided to stop. He abandoned the vehicle and attempted to flee the scene on foot. But police were able to identify Bigelow later on in the night and brought him into police custody.

Bigelow admitted to having nine drinks earlier in the night and told police he was drunk. Bigelow said he did not know the owner of the vehicle and that he did not have permission to operate it. He refused to perform standard field sobriety tests.

In court on Tuesday, Bigelow's attorney John Diamond told Judge James Sullivan that Bigelow was with some "girls" that night and they asked him if he could drive them home in the white jeep parked downtown where they were located. Bigelow agreed, drove them home, and once they arrived at the destination, Diamond said that Bigelow asked them where he should park the car, to which they responded by telling him that it wasn't their car and they didn't know whose vehicle it was.

Bigelow then told them to get out of the car and drove away. He said he panicked while on the high speed chase and told the court he regretted not stopping. Assistant District Attorney Mike Preble said during Tuesday's court session that Bigelow had no criminal history prior to this incident, which also factored into the eventual disposition.

In other Nantucket District Court news this week, after being continued without a finding for six months, Brian A. Dorman, 25, of New York, NY had July 3, 2022 charges of operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and using a motor vehicle without authority dismissed.

Kenneth Hammond, 70, of Nantucket, was arraigned on a Feb. 17 charge of assault and battery. He had a not-guilty plea entered on his behalf and was ordered to return to court April 3 for a pretrial hearing.

After being continued without a finding for 10 months, Michaela R. Yelle, 27, of Nantucket had a Dec. 22, 2021 charge of negligent operation of a motor vehicle dismissed.

*All defendants are considered innocent until proven guilty under a court of law*