Caribou man dies in high-speed chase

WASHBURN – A 40-year-old Caribou man died just after midnight Saturday when his vehicle left the road while he was being pursued by Caribou police investigating an alarm at a city business.

Michael Flannery died at the scene in Washburn, where his vehicle left the Washburn Road and crashed broadside into a utility pole. He was alone in the vehicle.

At about 11:30 p.m. Friday, two police officers in separate cruisers responded to an intrusion alarm at Sleepers grocery and clothing store on Lyndon Street in Caribou. Flannery’s vehicle was seen at the rear of the business, and officers attempted to stop the vehicle as it left the location. The police then pursued the vehicle.

A spokesman at the Caribou Police Department said Sunday that the pursuit turned into a high-speed chase.

Heading west on Washburn Road, Flannery’s vehicle left the road, striking the utility pole. The crash, according to Sgt. Michael Berube of the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Department, opened up the side of the vehicle, including the passenger compart-ment.

When the vehicle stopped, Berube said, Flannery’s body was outside the destroyed sedan.

The investigation by the Caribou Police Department and deputies from the sheriff’s department was continuing Sunday. Maine State Police personnel were expected to reconstruct the accident.

Involved in the investigation were the Washburn Police Department and the town’s emergency fire and ambulance personnel.