John Guimond, manager of the Augusta State Airport, kicks debris Tuesday off the airport’s rear access road. A gate was smashed when a driver rammed it after driving a pickup truck onto the airport’s tarmac. Augusta police arrested the driver, who has been identified as Corey Adams, 28, of Skowhegan, a few minutes later. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal
AUGUSTA — A Skowhegan man is facing several charges after police say he drove onto the tarmac at the Augusta State Airport and smashed through a gate as he fled.
Corey Adams, 28, whose last known address was in Skowhegan, has been charged with two counts of aggravated criminal mischief, operating a motor vehicle without a license, criminal trespass, driving to endanger and violating probation, said Deputy Chief Kevin Lully of the Augusta Police Department.
Adams was being held without bail at the Kennebec County Correctional Facility in Augusta because he was on probation when arrested, Lully said.
Before he was arrested near the airport Tuesday, Adams crashed his vehicle at the nearby Arby’s restaurant at 219 Western Ave., Lully said.
At about 2 p.m. Tuesday, police received reports of a possible hit-and-run at the fast food restaurant.
“I don’t know if it was reported by someone at the store or another person,” Lully said, “but we heard a vehicle had gone off the roadway and possibly struck a rock or other structure and then drove off.”
As Augusta police responded to the area of Western Avenue and Meadow Road, Adams reportedly fled to the airport in a 2023 Toyota Tundra pickup.
He proceeded onto the airfield at a high speed, according to John Guimond, manager of the Augusta State Airport, and plowed through one of its rear gates that enters onto Old Winthrop Road after an airport worker approached the truck.
Lully said it was the first time in his 26 years with the Augusta Police Department that a vehicle had driven onto the airfield.
“We’re just very thankful that nobody got hurt,” Lully said. “Certainly, by the sounds of it and after debriefing it with officers, it definitely had that potential. The officer certainly responded appropriately, and we’re (grateful) to have reached a peaceful resolution where no one was harmed.”
Sgt. Chris Blodgett of the Augusta Police Department prepares Tuesday to have a 2023 Toyota Tundra towed after the driver was arrested a few hundred yards away after driving across the Augusta State Airport tarmac. Corey Adams, 28, of Skowhegan is facing six charges connected to the incident. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal
Guimond said no airplanes were taking off or landing at the time and no flights were delayed because the truck drove onto the tarmac. A Cape Air flight landed, as scheduled, about an hour after the incident.
Adams was the only occupant of the pickup, which had been perforated with dozens of drill holes, police said.
Lully said he was not sure why Adams drove onto the tarmac. He also said he could not specify whether police recovered a drill from the vehicle because a drill would be “an item of evidentiary value” in an ongoing investigation.
Lully said the Toyota Tundra had been purchased a couple of days before the incident and was registered to Adams.
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