A North Anson man with a history of arrests and police chases dating back to the 1980s crashed his car in Cornville on Monday after a chase with police that reached speeds of 100 mph.

It was the climax to a daylong saga that spanned three counties and involved a car chase through three towns, two car accidents, multiple police and fire departments and, in the end, a hospital stay and possible return to prison for Robert “Bobby” Tucker.

Tucker, 45, was injured after the car he was driving skidded off rural Huff Road and crashed into a stand of trees. Tucker was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, James Ross, chief deputy with the Somerset County Sheriff’s Department, said.

A LifeFlight helicopter took Tucker from the Skowhegan hospital to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. His injuries were not considered life threatening.

“He had several warrants,” Ross said at the scene, as police collected evidence from the ground around the crashed 2002 Chevy Malibu. “Nationwide warrants.”

Police said information about what charges Tucker will face will come after investigations of Monday’s events are complete.

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Monday’s saga began when state police detectives Eliha Fowlie and Jarred Stedman investigated a burglary in Troy, in Waldo County, in which Tucker was a possible suspect, Somerset County Sheriff Dale Lancaster said.

The investigation took them to a home in Dixmont, in Penobscot County. There, at about 11 a.m., Tucker gave detectives a false name and fled through the woods.

Later Monday, Detective Lt. Carl Gottardi and Deputy Don Avery of the Somerset County Sheriff’s Department were heading north on U.S. Route 201 in Madison to check a residence known to be frequented by Tucker, who is also a person of interest in connection with burglaries in the Hartland and St. Albans area, according to the sheriff’s office.

Gottardi and Avery spotted Tucker near the intersection of U.S. Route 201 – Lakewood Road – and Route 148 in Madison and attempted to stop his car.

Tucker pulled off to the side of the road but before Avery could get out of his cruiser, Tucker’s Chevy Malibu sped away and the police followed, Lancaster said.

Lancaster said Tucker reached speeds up to 100 mph on Route 201 and at times drove on the wrong side of the road.

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“During the pursuit, Deputy Avery was involved in a cruiser accident with another vehicle near the Madison-Skowhegan town line,” Lancaster said.

There were no reported injuries in that crash.

Somerset County deputies and Skowhegan police gave chase, first up East Madison Road behind the Tractor Supply shopping plaza, then through East Madison village to Wood Road and across Route 150 to Revere School Road. From there the road is unpaved and Tucker reduced his speed, according to police radio traffic.

Tucker continued down Oxbow Road in Cornville and across West Ridge Road to Huff Road, where the car swerved, skidded and sailed into a set of trees. The pursuit had covered about 10 miles, Lancaster said.

State police, Cornville fire units, more county deputies and Skowhegan police arrived as emergency medical personnel removed him from the car.

Later, inside Tucker’s vehicle at the crash site on Huff Road in Cornville, police found a face mask, rubber gloves, and an airsoft handgun, which is a replica firearm designed to shoot spherical projectiles, along with other possible stolen items, according to Lancaster.

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The Chevy Malibu was destroyed.

Tucker, who is a convicted felon, has a history of fleeing from law enforcement when confronted, Lancaster said.

Tucker took police on a long foot chase in 1988 that ended with Somerset County Lt. Robbie Robertson taking him at gunpoint in a barn loft off nearby Molunkus Road.

A few years later, Tucker, along with his brother, Scott Tucker, gave state police the slip in Caratunk, stole a car and made their way to New Hampshire.

They attempted to dye their hair blond in North Conway, New Hampshire, but the color came out orange and they were spotted immediately and arrested.


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