GREENFIELD — A Turners Falls man faces nine charges after allegedly trying to hit a Greenfield Police cruiser before leading authorities on a high-speed chase to Sunderland which ended in Greenfield.

Jason B. Griswold, 40, pleaded not guilty in Greenfield District Court on Wednesday to two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and single counts of OUI-liquor, failure to stop for police, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, driving at a rate of speed exceeding the posted limit, possession of an open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle, failure to stop/yield and a marked lanes violation.

According to a police report by Greenfield Police Officer Patrick Merrigan, the incident began at around 4 p.m. on Tuesday when Merrigan responded to Green River School on Meridian Street. A nearby resident had notified authorities that “a male was driving around the parking lot, over a snow bank and at one point got out of the truck and was ‘stumbling around.’”

Merrigan found the driver, eventually identified as Griswold, to be argumentative and uncooperative when he arrived at the school and asked him to stop to speak with him. The report states that, based on Merrigan’s interaction with Griswold, he was “very concerned” he could be impaired by drugs or alcohol.

Griswold allegedly “peeled out” of the parking lot, sending dirt and rocks flying at Merrigan’s cruiser, the report states.

Greenfield Police Sgt. Todd Clark responded to assist. According to Clark’s report, he encountered Griswold’s vehicle on Petty Plain Road and “stopped diagonally in the roadway, not fully blocking either lane attempting to get the vehicle to stop.”

“The vehicle accelerated straight toward my vehicle,” Clark’s report reads. “The way this operator was driving I believed that his intention was to ram the marked police cruiser with blue lights on if I did not move at the last possible moment.”

The subsequent pursuit of Griswold took officers down Routes 5 and 10 into Deerfield, with his truck, a blue Dodge Ram, allegedly reaching speeds “in excess of 70 mph” in zones ranging from 30 mph to 50 mph, according to Clark’s report. Officers temporarily suspended pursuit as the truck reached speeds where Clark felt that continuing pursuit “posed a greater risk to the public.”

However, in the area of Whitney Hill Antiques, Clark wrote that it appeared Griswold had “attempted to strike a Deerfield Police cruiser that was set up on the side of the road waiting to deploy spike strips” in an effort to puncture the vehicle’s tires. According to Merrigan’s report, the officers were unable to successfully deploy the tire deflation devices due to heavy traffic conditions and Merrigan swerving into the opposite lane to avoid them. Deerfield Police reinitiated the pursuit.

The chase continued into Whately and Sunderland before reversing direction, ultimately ending by Surner Heating Co. on Montague City Road in Greenfield, where Griswold was taken into custody. 

An American Medical Response (AMR) ambulance was requested due to the officers’ use of tasers. Griswold was then taken to Baystate Franklin Medical Center for a mental health evaluation, Greenfield Deputy Police Chief William Gordon said previously.

According to court documents, bail was set at $10,000 plus a fee. Griswold was arraigned in Greenfield District Court late Wednesday afternoon and taken to the Franklin County Jail and House of Correction.