Man Arrested After High Speed Pursuit

A Portsmouth man was arrested on Wednesday afternoon after he was allegedly involved in a high speed pursuit with the and .

Around 1:30 on Wednesday morning, Portsmouth Police issued a dispatch broadcast in regards to a 24 hour domestic pick-up for Jeffrey Bucci of 61 Almy Knoll Ter. in Portsmouth.  Bucci was wanted by the police on domestic threats and harassing text messages, as well as an active affidavit and warrant for the same offenses from a previous incident.  

A Middletown police officer recalled that a vehicle that matched the description of Bucci's Nissan Frontier pickup was parked in the Stop and Shop parking lot on West Main Road.  According to the police report, the officer radioed for assistance and returned to the location.

Bucci allegedly refused to rolls down his window or shut of the vehicle, said police.   Police said he was screaming on his cell phone and shuffled through the center of the vehicle.  Bucci refused to show his hands, said police.

Bucci allegedly accelerated his truck, spun the tires and jumped over the curb, said police.   Police said the truck cut across the bed of mulch and grass, over the sidewalk and traveled north on West Main Road, which nearly caused an accident with another vehicle.

Bucci traveled 75 mph down Oliphant Lane, which is a 25 mph zone, said police. According to the reports, it nearly lost control near the intersection of Jepson Lane and Oliphant Lane but continued towards East Main Road in the wrong travel lane.  

His truck then ignored a red light, almost caused another accident and passed other cars across the yellow dividing line, said police.   Once it entered Portsmouth, police estimated Bucci’s truck was traveling around 100 mph.  

Near the Subway on East Main Road in Portsmouth, Bucci allegedly crossed the dividing line again and was traveling directly towards an oncoming Portsmouth Police Department SUV that was responding with its emergency lights activated, said police.  The SUV reportedly pulled off the roadway to avoid a collision.

Bucci allegedly took the on-ramp to 24 north and Middletown Police terminated the pursuit.  Bucci was arrested around 3:14 p.m. on Wednesday on charges of a High Speed Pursuit. He was also cited with speeding, entering from a private road, manner of turning at intersection, operating left of center, obedience to traffic control devices, turn signal required and aggressive driving.