AUGUSTA — A Pennsylvania woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to burglary and four other charges stemming from a police chase last December that ended in China.
Jessica Rose Rohwer, 38, of Scott Township, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 10 months in jail for the burglary and concurrent 30-day sentences for assault, theft, criminal mischief and criminal trespass and ordered to pay restitution of $1,358 for damages. The hearing took place at the Capital Judicial Center.
Justice William Stokes ordered the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office to return $38,200 in cash seized from Jessica Rohwer’s purse when she and her husband, Robert E. Rohwer, were arrested on Dec. 21, 2017, minus the restitution, court fees and attorney fees.
It was not made clear in the courtroom why the couple were carrying that much money.
The chase began on Riverside Drive in Vassalboro, according to an affidavit by Deputy Jeffrey Boudreau of the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office. The deputy said he saw a white Ford Expedition pass him going north at an estimated 100 mph and almost collide head-on with five other vehicles.
He broke off the pursuit in Winslow, where police there took up the chase until the vehicles reached in China.
Shortly afterward, Boudreau said, he got a report of a vehicle on fire in China, and he identified it as the one he had been chasing. The occupants had abandoned the vehicle, leaving behind three dogs that were removed by an animal control officer.
Assistant District Attorney Tracy DeVoll said Tuesday that both Rohwers fled the scene, and that Jessica Rowher was bleeding when she entered a stranger’s home on Lakeview Drive in China and demanded keys to a vehicle.
DeVoll said Rohwer grabbed keys and got into a Jeep when the homeowner pulled her out of it.
Jessica Rohwer told police at the time that she and her husband fled because “people are after them.” She was a passenger in the vehicle.
In exchange for Jessica Rohwer’s guilty pleas, the state dismissed a second burglary charge involving a different home.
Robert E. Rohwer, also known as Robert Oien and Ashley Smith, is due in court on May 9. Two different dates of birth were listed for him, making him either 33 or 35, and indicating he is from Peckville, Pennsylvania.
He was indicted on charges of eluding an officer, driving to endanger and criminal speed.
Previously, another assistant district attorney said there were non-extraditable warrants for Rohwer’s arrest from Washington state and from Oregon.
Both Rohwers have been held at the Kennebec County jail in lieu of bail since their arrest Dec. 21.
Betty Adams can be contacted at 621-5631 or at:
badams@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @betadams
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