LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — The 39-year-old man who police say led officers on a chase and attempted to strike them with a 2×4 early Monday morning has been charged.
Boyette Graham, of Chester County, faces charges of aggravated assault, fleeing and eluding, driving under the influence, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, as well as multiple summary offenses connected to the pursuit, court documents show.
Graham was arraigned Tuesday at Lancaster General Hospital, where he is currently receiving medical treatment not directly related to the pursuit, according to police. He will be committed to Lancaster County Prison upon release from the hospital.
The chase lasted approximately 45 minutes and took place in Lancaster and Chester Counties. Graham fled a traffic stop around 3:35 a.m. Monday in the 2700 block of Lincoln Highway in East Lampeter Township, court documents say. He continued on Route 30 into Chester County before turning, heading westbound to Route 283. During the chase, he allegedly went as fast as 131 miles per hour, ran red lights and drove into oncoming traffic.
Graham made way to a Turkey Hill parking lot located in the 200 block of Main Street, East Lampeter Township around 4:15 a.m. where state troopers fired their weapons at his vehicle when he allegedly drove toward and struck a police vehicle that was blocking him.
Police say Graham fled again, this time toward Broad Street where he entered a the storage yard of Snavely JC & Sons Inc. That’s when Graham exited his vehicle and fled on foot with a piece of wood. Officers pursued Graham and he allegedly “took an aggressive fighting stance holding the piece of wood as if he were preparing to swing at police officers with it,” court documents state.
Police Tased Graham as he attempted to run away. Court documents note that he struggled and fought with police, resisted arrest and ignored verbal commands prior to being taken into custody and taken to the hospital.
Graham was interviewed by police at the hospital. He advised that he started his shift at WellSpan York Hospital as a traveling nurse around 7 p.m. Sunday, court documents say. He then left around 1 a.m. after hearing “inanimate objects speak to him about a pending court case,” court documents state. (To note: the court case is out of Chester County. Graham was charged with disarming a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest, simple assault, possession of marijuana and use/possession of drug paraphernalia. A formal arraignment was scheduled for May 9.)
Graham added that at some point, he observed emergency vehicle lights and thought they were “fake cops.”
FOX43 reached out to WellSpan Health in regards to Graham’s capacity of employment at the hospital in York.
The spokesperson said that Graham was a temporary staffing nurse hired by a nurse staffing agency. The spokesperson added that Graham “will not work again at any of our WellSpan facilities.”
