Car chase on Route 221 ends in arrest of Bangor man

Police chased a Bangor man on Route 221 Wednesday after he drove his car into a maroon Ford Contour in Glenburn and repeatedly ran into it until it was forced off the Hudson Road.

Rodney Labreck, formerly of Bradford, left the scene of the accident at about 11:34 a.m. after telling the women in the car he had hit, Eva Evans and Lena Morrison, both of Bradford, that they “should have stayed home and this wouldn’t have happened,” according to Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Liz Kelley.

A Glenburn resident who saw the accident called the sheriff’s department and Kelley pulled Labreck over on Kenduskeag Avenue. Kelley said Labreck was visibly drunk and “in a rage” when she pulled him over. When she asked for his license and registration, he told her to go “[expletive] herself” and then took off down Route 221 toward Bangor.

Kelley followed Labreck, who was driving a green Mercury Cougar, for about five or 10 minutes. She said Labreck never went faster than 55 mph and was swerving the entire time.

Kelley, Bangor police officers and a game warden cornered Labreck at about 11:44 a.m. on Center Street in Bangor. Kelley said Labreck’s blood alcohol level was well over the legal limit. He was arrested for operating while under the influence, refusal to stop for an officer, and leaving the scene of an accident.

Labreck was taken to Penobscot County Jail, where he remained Wednesday evening. His bail is set at $500.

Bangor police arrested a man after he allegedly beat up a woman early Wednesday.

Officer Brandon Vafiades reported that at about 3:45 a.m. he went to an Ohio Street address for an assault complaint. A woman there said Gabriel Sanchez, 20, had “just showed up” at her home that night. She had not seen him for a long time before.

The woman told Vafiades that Sanchez stayed for a while, then became angry and began hitting her with closed fists. The woman showed Vafiades red welts on her shoulders and back. When the woman’s roommate called police, she said, Sanchez fled with a friend.

Vafiades said that at about 4:45 a.m. somebody called the station asking for Sanchez’s friend, and if he had been arrested. The call came from a Clinton Street apartment.

Vafiades, with Officers Kerry Libby and Robert Hutchings, went to the apartment and found Sanchez there. He was arrested on two outstanding warrants for failure to appear to answer prior assault charges.

At Penobscot County Jail, Sanchez was also charged with the Ohio Street assault.

A burglar made off with money and needles Tuesday afternoon in Old Town.

Old Town police Sgt. Scott Casey said that at about 5:30 p.m. a man went to his brother’s Bosworth Street home to ask for a ride. The man found the front door window on the house smashed, and a stranger running away. The man chased the stranger but didn’t catch him.

Casey said change, hypodermic needles and a few silver certificates were missing. The man who lived there was only gone for about an hour when the burglary took place, Casey said. The case is still under investigation.

Somebody took hundreds of dollars worth of power tools from a basement in Bangor Wednesday morning.

Bangor police Officer Jason Stuart reported that he met with a man who said a table saw, a circular saw and a cordless screw gun were taken from the basement of a Market Street building. The man thought the door had been locked, but he wasn’t certain. The theft was discovered at about 8:30 a.m.

– Compiled by NEWS reporters Julia Hall and Isaac Kimball