Maine fugitive who prompted chases arrested

HAMPTON FALLS, N.H. – A fugitive linked by police to a weeklong crime spree in coastal Maine awaited extradition Sunday after he was arrested while taking down his tent at a campground.

Derek Dube of Auburn, Maine, who police had described as “armed, dangerous and suicidal,” offered no resistance when New Hampshire State Police and U.S. marshals apprehended him Saturday afternoon at the Wakeda Campground.

Dube’s companion, Jessica Brewer, 19, of Edgecomb, Maine, was also taken into custody on a charge of hindering apprehension.

The two were being held at the Rockingham County Jail in Brentwood pending extradition hearings.

Dube had checked into the campground Thursday under a phony name and said he was staying alone, according to Jan Hambleton, its co-owner. She said there were hundreds of other people at the campground when he was arrested.

Dube was sought in connection with several home invasions and burglaries in Boothbay Harbor when he led police on a pair of chases.

The second chase ended Wednesday when Dube crashed a stolen minivan into a row of vehicles at a used car lot in Wiscasset, fled into the woods and allegedly stole a car that turned up the next morning in Lewiston.

The search for Dube then shifted to the Lewiston-Auburn area, where he grew up and was later convicted of burglary and assault. He served five years in prison and has been on probation since then, police said.

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department had received a tip Saturday morning about Dube’s whereabouts and called the U.S. Marshals’ Service, said Lt. Michael McGonagle of the Lewiston police.

Investigators from Lincoln County were sent to New Hampshire to interview Dube and Brewer. Police said they did not yet know where the two were headed or if Dube was carrying any weapons.