Milford driver acquitted of speeding charges Police didn’t have radar gun in car

BANGOR – A Milford man was acquitted Friday by a Penobscot County jury nearly a year after he was arrested after what police called a high-speed chase on Interstate 95.

Derek R. Lacadie, 20, was found not guilty of driving to endanger and criminal speeding or driving more than 30 mph over the speed limit.

Police first spotted Lacadie’s 1991 Nissan 300 ZX sports car on Broadway. Lacadie was stopped at the red light ahead of them near the I-95 southbound on-ramp about 10 p.m. and followed him two exits before Lacadie pulled over.

Lacadie was arrested on May 16, 2002, on the Hammond Street offramp with a 16-year-old female passenger in the car. He told police that he thought he was driving 70 mph in a 55-mph zone, according to the police report.

Officers James Hassard and Robert Angelo reported that they could not keep pace with the car, even when they were driving 110 mph. They estimated that Lacadie reached a top speed of 130 mph.

Police did not have a radar gun on the car and estimated his speed, Gregory Campbell, assistant Penobscot County district attorney said Monday.

Lacadie’s attorney, Donald Brown of Bangor, successfully argued in court Friday that because of the curves on that section of I-95 the police could not have had his client in sight the entire time and therefore could not be certain of Lacadie’s speed.

If convicted, he would have faced fines of up to $1,000 on each count, suspension of his driver’s license for up to 180 days and court costs.