Bill seeks stricter penalties for drivers evading police

A chase that led to the death of a central Maine teenager has inspired a former state trooper to ask the state for mandated jail time for drivers who endanger themselves and others by evading police.

Fern Asselin, who served as a state trooper in the 1970s, said the death of 15-year-old Ryan Quinn of Litchfield last October pushed him to approach lawmakers about a minimum of one year in jail for motorists who trigger police pursuits.

“After all these years, I’m still seeing high-speed chases,” he said. “Most, 60 to 70 percent of them, end up in tragedies. Somebody gets killed or maimed.”

Asselin said there was no reason for Quinn to try to escape from Lewiston police the night of Oct. 19, 2004, when an officer stopped the Subaru he was driving and noticed it had been reported stolen.

Quinn sped away and led police on a chase through several Lewiston neighborhoods and eventually crashed into a telephone pole.

Asselin said he thinks that if Quinn knew he would have faced an automatic year in jail for evading police, the youth would not have tried to escape.

Rep. Elaine Makas, D-Lewiston, said that although lawmakers are being pressed to find ways to reduce Maine’s jail population, she does not think prosecuting those who start police chases would increase significantly the number of inmates.