Down East pursuit leads to two arrests Indian Township teens accused of taking car

PEMBROKE – An early morning single-vehicle accident Tuesday aroused the suspicions of a Washington County sheriff’s deputy who was on his way to his office in Machias.

It led to a police pursuit and two arrests.

Around 4 a.m., Deputy Dennis Perry came upon an accident across from the Crossroads Restaurant on U.S. Route 1 and Front Street. “I noticed a Chevrolet sedan up on the snowbank,” he said. The vehicle later was identified as a 2001 Chevrolet sedan belonging to a Princeton woman. The vehicle had been stolen from her house.

Perry said he stopped and talked to two males, later identified as 16-year-olds from Indian Township, who were standing near the vehicle. While he was talking to the driver, he said, the passenger started to circle behind him.

The officer said he suspected that the vehicle might have been stolen. As the officer tried to deal with that issue, the two ran from the scene and into a residential area.

Perry said he called for assistance. Officers from the Pleasant Point Police Department, the Maine Warden Service and Washington County Sheriff Sgt. Frank Gardner were among the first to arrive.

The officers tracked the suspects through a residential area to Old Route 1. “It appeared that the suspects stopped at other vehicles and other driveways along the way. I felt they were going to try to steal another vehicle,” he said.

A canine unit was requested and Calais police Officer Chris Donahue and his dog Major began to track the suspects through the snow. Police knocked on doors in the area to ask residents if they had seen any suspicious individuals. They also stopped vehicles to ask drivers if they had seen anyone on the road.

The officers continued to search, and around 6:25 a.m. they were notified that the suspects had been seen walking along Route 1. The two youths were arrested and turned over to a juvenile intake worker.

Perry said one of the juveniles had drug paraphernalia with him when he was arrested. The other male, who police said has a criminal record, was being sought in connection with a burglary in Princeton. Perry said one of the juveniles has cooperated and implicated himself and his friend in several vehicle burglaries in the Princeton and Pembroke areas.

The two were being held Tuesday in the Washington County Jail.

The deputy praised area residents who helped police. He said the officers were concerned that the juveniles might try to break into a house in an effort to elude police. Perry also recommended that Washington County residents not leave their car keys in their vehicles.

Sgt. Lester Seeley and the officers of the U.S. Border Patrol also assisted Perry at the scene.