Four teenage suspects were apprehended last Wednesday after leading police on a car chase through eight towns in two counties, ending in Gorham.
Lt. Gary Fecteau of York County Sheriff’s Department said Stewart Richardson, 18, of Cumberland, was arrested in Gorham on charges of eluding police and reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon – a car. He was taken to York County Jail, Fecteau said.
Police also arrested a 17-year-old juvenile male passenger of Biddeford, who was taken to Long Creek Youth Center in South Portland, on an outstanding warrant. Two other passengers, both teenage girls, 16 and 14, from Biddeford, were taken into custody and released to their parents.
The chase, which began at about 5 a.m. on March 22 in Biddeford, ended at the intersection of routes 25 and 202 in Gorham. The 1995 Honda two-door with four suspects inside continued at speeds up to 75 miles per hour even after a police spike mat shredded the car’s front tires. The police report said the car’s front rims were scraping the pavement.
Buxton Police Officer Paul Rubashkin was radioed at 5:10 a.m. to attempt to intercept the vehicle. Rubashkin put down a spike mat on Route 202 at the Hollis-Waterboro town line.
“Buxton threw a spike mat for us,” said Maurice Ouellette, chief deputy of York County Sheriff’s Department.
Buxton police said the driver of the car tried to avoid the spike mat but hit it. The spike mat got entangled under the car and dragged underneath the car.
Ouellette said the spike mat didn’t deflate the car’s rear tires. He said the car ran on its front rims for “quite a few miles.”
In Gorham a York County deputy used a “pit maneuver,” according to Ouellette, putting a fender into the car after it had slowed to 25 miles per hour, nudging the car over. Ouellette said police wanted to stop the car before it got into downtown Gorham.
Gorham and Buxton police along with the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department and Maine State Police assisted the York County Sheriff’s Department. A state trooper and a York County deputy also deployed spike mats during the chase.
Police said the four teenagers are suspects in several residential burglaries, vehicle burglaries, gas drive offs, toll drive offs and two high-speed chases in the states of Illinois, Delaware, Connecticut and New Hampshire.
Last week’s incident began in Biddeford and went through Arundel, Alfred, Waterboro, Lyman, Hollis and Buxton before ending in Gorham.
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