Bangor man charged in high-speed chase

ELLSWORTH – A 19-year-old Bangor man was formally charged Friday in connection with one of several pending charges stemming from a high-speed chase during which he allegedly reached speeds of more than 90 miles per hour.

Benjamin S. Foster made an initial appearance Friday afternoon in 5th District Court. He was arrested Thursday night after he allegedly stole a vehicle in Brewer and then led police on a chase through five Hancock County communities.

Bail was set at $5,000 cash or $25,000 surety with conditions and Foster was being held Friday afternoon at Hancock County Jail.

Assistant District Attorney Mary Kellett told the court Foster was being charged at this time only with eluding a police officer. Foster was arrested on other charges, including theft of a motor vehicle, operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of an intoxicant, operating after license suspension and criminal speeding.

Foster already has two prior convictions on motor vehicle theft charges and has another similar charge pending, Kellett said. In August 2000, he was charged with assaulting a 69-year-old Millinocket man with a hammer and then stealing his car.

At the time of Thursday’s alleged car theft and chase, Foster was on probation, having served time for one of the prior convictions, and also was free on bail from previous charges, Kellett said. The prosecutor noted these new charges will include his fourth involving motor vehicle theft as an adult.

According to police reports, Ellsworth officers received word that a car was stolen in Brewer late Thursday afternoon and might be heading to Ellsworth.

Officer Bart Tokas of the Ellsworth Police Department spotted the vehicle on Route 1A, and, with blue lights flashing, began the chase. According to Tokas, Foster did not stop and took off up Route 179 with officers from the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department and the Maine State Police joining the pursuit.

According to police, the chase headed up Route 179, with speeds reaching more than 90 miles per hour, and ended when the vehicle Foster was driving ran out of gas near Route 9 in Aurora.

Foster then fled the vehicle and ran into the woods where state troopers captured him.

There were indications that Foster had been drinking, Kellett told the court, noting his blood-alcohol content was measured at 0.13 percent, which is above the legal limit of 0.08.

Kellett stressed Foster was out on bail and on probation at the time of the incident and asked that bail be set at $25,000 surety or $5,000 cash.

Defense attorney Steven Juskewitchof Ellsworth, representing Foster, argued that the man is a lifelong resident of the area, although he admitted that his client did have a prior felony conviction, that he was on bail and probation at the time, and that there was some risk of flight.

“It is unlikely that he will be able to make any bail that is over $200 or $300,” Juskewitch said.

He asked that bail be set at $10,000 or 25 percent cash.

District Court Judge Patricia Worth was not sympathetic to that request.