FARMINGTON — A driver from Albany Township who sped away from a deputy and a slew of charges in Chesterville on Thanksgiving Day is now in the Franklin County Detention Center.
Devin Leonard, 25, was arrested Sunday in Bethel by Oxford County deputies, said Franklin County Sheriff Scott Nichols in a news release Tuesday.
Leonard was found at the Family Dollar store in Bethel by Deputy Steve Witham. He was in a stolen vehicle from Lewiston, he said.
Witham and two other deputies took Leonard into custody without incident, he said.
Leonard was returned to Franklin County on Monday to face the charges from the Nov. 23 incident.
Leonard was stopped for a traffic violation on Route 156 by Deputy Derek Doucette. He gave the officer a false name, “Dale Thompson,” and did not provide a driver’s license, according to the sheriff, who sought the public’s help to find Leonard.
After a few computer checks, Doucette identified the driver as Leonard. He found that Leonard had 18 driver’s license suspensions and a warrant for unpaid fines.
With that information, Doucette approached the vehicle and called the driver by his real name. Leonard responded by speeding away on Vienna Road, toward Vienna in Kennebec County, Nichols said. Doucette followed him for only a short time.
Leonard faces a felony charge of eluding an officer, Nichols said, as well as misdemeanor charges of failing to stop for an officer; driving to endanger; refusing to submit to arrest or detention; driving without a license; driving with a suspended or revoked license; and failure to give correct name, address or date of birth.
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