90 mph pursuit ends in Lucerne Hancock teen broadsides cruiser

A 16-year-old girl from Hancock whose mother reported that she had slashed her wrists earlier in the day led police on a chase with speeds reaching 90 mph that ended Sunday afternoon when she rammed broadside a state police cruiser blocking her way on Route 1A east of Bangor.

The girl swerved to avoid a spike mat laid on the westbound lane of Route 1A, near Rowe Brook Road in Lucerne, and plowed into the cruiser, which was sideways across the eastbound lane.

She may have tried to hit the state trooper, who was still stretching the spike mat across the road, said Maine State Police Sgt. Timothy Varney.

The trooper, who was nearly struck, dived over the guardrail to safety. The trooper was not injured.

“It appears she was aiming for him, but that is still under investigation,” Varney said.

Tony Lopez of Brewer was pulled over, along with other traffic, in the breakdown lane of westbound Route 1A about 125 yards from the roadblock.

Just after Lopez had pulled over, the van being driven by the girl went by at 60 or 70 mph, Lopez said, with police cars in pursuit.

As the van approached the roadblock, Lopez said, he could tell that “she was just not going to go over that spike strip.”

The van swerved toward the cruiser and the trooper leapt over the guardrail, Lopez said. “If he didn’t jump, he would have been dead. I’ve watched this stuff on TV, but I never thought I’d see it in real life.”

The cruiser’s right side was staved in by the collision, while the minivan the girl was driving had front-end damage.

The girl, who is not a licensed driver and was not wearing a seat belt, had minor injuries, plus shoulder and neck pain after the crash, Varney said, as well as “numerous slashes on her wrists.”

She was taken by ambulance to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor for treatment of her injuries and possibly a psychiatric evaluation, Varney said.

The chase started around 4 p.m., after the girl’s mother called police to tell them that her daughter had attempted suicide by slashing her wrists, then had fled home when the mother found out, Varney said.

A Hancock County sheriff’s deputy tried to pull the girl over on Route 1 east of Ellsworth but she refused to stop.

With the deputy and then a state trooper in pursuit, the girl sped into Ellsworth, at times reaching speeds of 85 to 90 mph, Varney said.

By the time she left Ellsworth, heading west on Route 1A, six police officers were pursuing her: two Hancock County sheriff’s deputies, two state troopers, and two Ellsworth police officers.

Because she was going so fast, the pursuers backed off, Varney said. When they did, she would slow down, allowing the officers to catch up; when they did, she would speed off again.

At a minimum, the girl will face charges of eluding a police officer, failure to stop for a police officer, and speeding, Varney said. Depending on what the investigation determines, including whether she intentionally tried to run into the state trooper, she could face more serious charges.