A suicidal Windham man, who recently said he wanted to be shot to death by police, led police on a high speed chase through three York County towns Monday night and is currently confined to a mental hospital awaiting charges.

According to state police spokesman Steve McCausland, at about 7:20 p.m. on Monday public safety dispatchers in Gray received a call from Phillip Urquhart, 42, who said he was suicidal and wanted police to shoot him.

McCausland said Urquhart stayed on the phone with dispatchers through most of the ensuing chase, making sure police could easily find him.

Deputies tried to get him to pull over, but Urquhart refused and led police on a high speed pursuit through the towns of Waterboro, Alfred and Lyman. In all, the chase covered about 15 miles, finally ending in Lyman.

McCausland said during the chase Urquhart appeared to be pointing a gun at the police officers involved. He avoided spike mats several times and tried running police cruisers off the road. At one point in the chase he rammed a deputy’s cruiser.

The incident ended when Urquhart turned down a dirt road that was impassable because of a fallen tree. He fled on foot, but was quickly apprehended by pursuing deputies.

Urquhart was brandishing a knife when he was apprehended but not officially arrested. A firearm was not found in his possession.

Urquhart was brought to a local hospital for a psychological evaluation. No one was injured during the incident. Lt. Gary Fecteau of the York County Sheriff’s Department said Urquhart is considered under protective custody. As of Wednesday, Fecteau was applying for a warrant to arrest Urquhart.

Urquhart had previously attempted suicide by police on April 20. After learning that his wife intended to divorce him, Phillip Urquhart drove to the Augusta Wal-Mart with a handgun and caused a police standoff. No one was injured and a police negotiator was able to convince Urquhart to surrender after several hours inside the store. Urquhart was taken to the Riverview Psychiatric Center for evaluation. He was released May 10 on $100,000 surety bail. He was out on bail at the time. Prior to the Wal-Mart standoff, Urquhart had no previous criminal record.

Michael Hartwell contributed to this report.