RICHMOND — A pair of teenagers allegedly stole a car and led police on a high-speed chase across the region Monday that reached speeds of 100 mph before the driver was stopped and arrested.
The teenage driver pulled over and stopped for police on Main Street, which is also state Route 197, in Richmond, after speeding across the Richmond-Dresden bridge over the Kennebec River and nearly skidding into Richmond Police Chief James Donnell’s cruiser as he joined the pursuit.
A Wiscasset police officer, at 11:31 a.m. Monday, spotted a car go by with no plates, multiple defects and being operated erratically, in the area of Wiscasset Middle High School on state Route 27. The officer tried to stop the vehicle but it sped off, Wiscasset police Chief Lawrence Hesseltine said.
The driver, a 17-year-old boy from Richmond, whom police declined to identify because of his age, drove about 13 miles with a Wiscasset cruiser in pursuit, from Wiscasset to Dresden, reaching speeds between 90 and 100 mph. The teen then drove across the bridge into Richmond, where he nearly collided with the Richmond cruiser driven by Donnell, Hesseltine said.
Donnell said as the driver came off the bridge he was traveling at a fast speed and locked up his brakes, starting to skid and heading toward the Richmond cruiser, but didn’t strike the chief’s car and continued on. Donnell joined the chase.
A short time later the driver pulled over on state Route 197, also known as Main Street, near its intersection with Carding Machine Road.
Hesseltine said the driver was accompanied by a 17-year-old girl from Bangor. He said the car they were in, a Chevy Impala, had apparently been stolen from a dealership in Sabattus. Information on the alleged theft of the car, and whether either of the youths involved in the chase were charged in connection to that, was not available from Sabattus police Thursday.
The driver of the car was charged with eluding a police officer, reckless conduct, criminal speed and driving to endanger. Both youths were taken into custody in Richmond and later released to the custody of their parents.
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