Paul Rheaume makes the "I love you" hand gesture as he gives neighbor Justin Clark a mortorcyle ride Saturday, just a few hours before he died. (Courtesy The Conathan family)

By SYDNEY SCHWARTZ
The Patriot Ledger

MARSHFIELD - It wasn’t the first time Paul Rheaume crashed his motorcycle while running from police.

The Pembroke biker killed during a police chase Saturday had a history of run-ins with the law.

In 1995, Rheaume, then 30 and living in Quincy, crashed his motorcycle into a car at Braintree Five Corners while being chased by State Police. Braintree Police said Rheaume sped off after they tried to stop him for not stopping at a red light.

Rheaume, 41, was killed shortly before 9 p.m. Saturday when he crossed the center line on Route 3A in North Marshfield and crashed head-on into a car, police said. He died at the scene.

During the chase in 1995 and the one Saturday night, Rheaume was driving with a suspended licence, according to Registry of Motor Vehicles records.

‘‘We were together, the same incident happened, but it wasn't a fatality. I figured he’d learn from the first time,’’ said his ex-wife, Lori Goodwin of Quincy. ‘‘That’s just who he was. Always had to push the edge.’’

Rheaume, a mechanic, had a criminal record that included convictions for assault, threatening and intimidation, burglary and drug possession.

His driver’s license was suspended or revoked 18 times since 1987. His license was last revoked in April 2005 for four years.

Pembroke police Lt. Michael Ohrenberger said Rheaume was known to the department because of several arrests for domestic violence and motor vehicle violations.

But Rheaume's friends and family members said he had another side. They said he was a giving person who took in unwanted dogs, fixed strangers’ cars for free, helped elderly neighbors and gave local children rides on his motorcycle.

‘‘He was always sticking up for the little guy,’’ said his neighbor, Jeff Conathan. ‘‘Definitely give you the shirt off his back and not bat an eye.’’

‘‘He’d help anybody do anything, pretty much,’’ added Richard Chisholm, his former brother-in-law and business partner. ‘‘If you needed something fixed on your car, you’d go to pay him, he’d say, ‘Forget about it, next time you can help me out.’’’

Rheaume’s friends said he owned several motorcycles and road bikes, which he worked on at his house, but liked to tinker with any engine.

Chisholm said Rheaume worked for several companies before the two started CPR Truck, Trailer and Equipment Repair two years ago.

‘‘We had gone through a lot of tough times,’’ Chisholm said. ‘‘Things were just starting to turn around for us. Boom - this happens.’’

On Saturday, before the accident, Rheaume spent the day fixing his truck, working on a neighbor’s truck and giving local children rides on his motorcycle, said Conathan, who shot photos of the rides.

Marshfield police said that when an officer tried to stop Rheaume’s motorcycle for a motor vehicle violation Saturday night, he sped away.

When the motorcycle crossed over the center line and hit an oncoming car, Rheaume was thrown from the bike and landed on the property of the Massachusetts Audubon Society’s North River Sanctuary.

Rheaume was killed. Two people in the car that he struck and a police officer in the cruiser were injured, police said. Police would not release their names.

Rheaume grew up in Pittsfield and lived in Pembroke for about 15 years. He was adopted as a child and grew up in a house with many children, his former wife said.

Rheaume’s birth sister, Kathy Moser of West Haven, Conn., who was also adopted, contacted him in 1994.

‘‘He was a person that trouble followed him and trouble found him,’’ Moser said. ‘‘He never found his way because he didn’t have good parental guidance.’’

Besides motorcycles, friends said Rheaume liked dirt bikes, NASCAR and muscle cars. He told them he served in the Marines during the first Gulf War. ‘‘He’d come home every night with a new story, new adventure - whether it was true or not I don’t know,’’ Goodwin said.

‘‘He was the kind of guy who lived on the edge and loved life,’’ Conathan said. ‘‘He died doing what he wanted to do. He loved to ride.’’

Besides his former wife and sister, he is survived by his adopted father, his stepmother, six siblings and a daughter from a former marriage.

The Plymouth County district attorney’s office, state and local police are still investigating.

Sydney Schwartz may be reached at sschwartz@ledger.com .

Copyright 2007 The Patriot Ledger
Transmitted Tuesday, June 19, 2007