A suspect in a child sexual assault case in Strong died after crashing head-on into a tree during a police chase, Maine State Police announced Tuesday.
Franklin County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a home in Strong around 5 p.m. Monday to investigate an alleged sexual assault o a child.
Police said 32-year-old Joshua Burdin of Strong was identified as the suspect, and had fled before deputies arrived.
Deputies spotted Burdin driving a Subaru Impreza in Strong shortly after 6:10 p.m. Monday and tried to initiate a traffic stop, but he fled, police said.
Burdin then led police on a chase through Strong and into Farmington, where police deployed spike strips in an effort to stop Burdin’s vehicle, authorities said.
When the front tires of Burdin’s vehicle were spiked, police say Burdin accelerated at a high rate of speed on South Strong Road and crashed head-on into a tree.
Burdin died at the scene of the crash, which police said remains under investigation.
His body was taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Augusta for an autopsy.
