Franklin man admits to two felony charges

ELLSWORTH – A Franklin man who attempted to outrun police twice last February, and rammed a police cruiser during one of those chases, pleaded guilty to multiple charges Tuesday in Hancock County Superior Court.

Peter G. Boucar, 41, entered guilty pleas to two felony charges of eluding police and one felony charge of aggravated criminal mischief. He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of driving while his license was suspended, driving to endanger, violating bail and unauthorized use of property.

He also pleaded no contest to a charge of illegally possessing the drug Adderall.

Justice Jeffrey L. Hjelm ordered Boucar to serve two years of a five-year sentence with the state Department of Corrections. Upon his release, he will be placed on probation, ordered to seek substance abuse counseling and fined $1,000.

He will also be required to make restitution payments to the city of Ellsworth for $8,550 for damages he caused to a police cruiser.

The charges against Boucar stem from separate police chases last February.

He was arrested Feb. 2 in Hancock after leading police on a nine-mile chase down Route 1. The pursuit began on High Street in Ellsworth and ended after Boucar’s vehicle hit a dirt pile off the East Side Road in Hancock.

Exactly three weeks later, he eluded police a second time. Ellsworth police Officer Jeremy Cox was following a white van on Bayside Road when the driver, whom police recognized as Boucar, stopped the vehicle, put it in reverse and backed into the cruiser, damaging the front end and hood.

Police lost track of the van but later found it abandoned on Old Tinker Farm Way, where the man had shed and buried his clothing in the snow. Officers located him later that evening at the apartment of a friend.

On Tuesday, Justice Hjelm said the two incidents “demonstrate a self-destructive side.”

He told Boucar that the sentence against him reflects the seriousness of the chases but also gives him a chance to learn from bad decisions he has made in the past.

“You just have to have confidence in yourself,” the judge said to Boucar. “You can make this work.”