Beer-drinking driver takes taxi for a joy ride

AUGUSTA – An Augusta man who allegedly used a stolen taxi as a getaway vehicle after stealing beer from a convenience store continued to swill beer after crashing the vehicle during a high-speed pursuit, police said Saturday.

Damien Rogers, 33, sat in the crumpled taxi drinking beer and refusing orders to exit the locked vehicle, said Lt. Jeffrey Pomerleau. Officers had to smash the window to get him out.

The episode unfolded in broad daylight after police received a report of a stolen taxi at 10:18 a.m. and then a report of beer stolen from a convenience store.

Rogers led Augusta and state police on a chase reaching 80 mph on Interstate 95 before he crashed at Exit 112, Pomerleau said.

Rogers faces a number of charges including unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, failing to stop for a police officer, drunken driving, and driving with a suspended driver’s license, as well as outstanding warrants, Pomerleau said.