A Corinth man was charged with numerous offenses Wednesday night after crashing a car he’d bought earlier in the day during a chase with Waterville police that ended in a Clinton accident.

Dylan M. Caruso, 19, was charged with eluding an officer, operating a vehicle without a license, driving to endanger, motor vehicle speeding 30 mph over the speed limit, two counts of unlawful possession of scheduled drugs, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, operation of defective vehicle and attaching false plates after the chase and accident, police said.

Caruso was the only occupant of the car. He told officers that he fled because he didn’t have a license, the license plates he was using did not belong to the car and he had several warrants out for his arrest, according to Waterville Deputy Chief Charles Rumsey.

Police found more than 20 grams of marijuana, a digital scale, a glass pipe with marijuana residue and two non-narcotic prescription drugs in Caruso’s backpack, which was in the car, Rumsey said.

He was taken to the Kennebec County jail in Augusta with a total cash bail of $4,000.

The incident began Wednesday evening when a patrol officer saw a Ford Focus with an expired registration at the Elm Plaza shopping center at approximately 5:45 p.m.

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When the officer attempted to pull the car over on upper Main Street, it began driving erratically and sped onto Interstate 95 heading north. The Waterville officer gave chase and was joined by a Maine State Police patrol vehicle, according to Rumsey.

The car reached peak speeds of 100 mph during the highway chase, Rumsey said. Officers reported that interstate traffic was light at the time.

Caruso got off the highway in Clinton, at exit 138, and tried to turn right onto Hinckley Road, Rumesy said. While making the turn, Caruso lost control, skidded sideways and crashed into a ditch on the other side of the road.

Caruso had bought the car in a private sale earlier that day in New Portland, and it had bald tires and a voided inspection sticker, Rumsey said.

Officers immediately got Caruso out of the vehicle and took him into custody. Caruso refused medical transport or evaluation and did not appear to be hurt, Rumsey said. A medic from Clinton Rescue met with Caruso and determined he was not injured, and police later took him to MaineGeneral Medical Center’s Thayer Center for Health in Waterville for further evaluation and to get a blood test to analyze if Caruso was under the influence at the time of the chase.

Peter McGuire — 861-9239

pmcguire@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @PeteL_McGuire


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