November 07, 2024
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‘Person of interest’ sought in chase case

BANGOR – Investigators on Friday released photographs of a man they said is a “person of interest” whom they want to interview as part of the probe into a high-speed chase and crash last fall.

“We are looking for this person who may have information that is important to this investigation,” Detective Bill Flagg of the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office told reporters at a press conference late Friday morning in the lobby of the sheriff’s office.

On Nov. 20, a pickup truck was stolen from an Enfield business and driven south on Interstate 95 where it led Penobscot County Sheriff’s Deputy James Kennedy on a chase during which speeds exceeded 95 mph, Flagg said. The early morning chase ended in Newburgh when the stolen pickup truck struck and snapped a utility pole at the intersection of Routes 69 and 9.

The driver, who apparently suffered injuries, fled on foot and disappeared.

The sheriff’s office is working with a federal Violent Crimes Task Force operating in the region. Flagg and Detective Robert Jordan, a sheriff’s department detective and member of the federal task force would not comment on specific elements of the probe, citing the need to preserve the integrity of the investigation.

As well as violent crimes, the task force also investigates federal firearms violations, Jordan said.

In the more than five months since the incident, investigators have reviewed jail and law enforcement records, conducted interviews, sent out evidence to be tested at state and federal laboratories and canvassed the area to try to find anyone who may know something about the incident.

“We followed all avenues,” he said.

The photographs surfaced recently, and investigators now are going public with them in the hope that publicizing them may help authorities break the case.

“It was a unique opportunity that presented itself,” Flagg said. “Someone came forward with this information.”

The two photographs show a man about 6 feet tall and weighing more than 200 pounds walking in the woods, although investigators would not say where or when the photographs were taken. The detectives would say only that the man was wanted for questioning as he may have information related to the incident.

“I need to stress that this is a person of interest. We can’t label him anything other than that,” Flagg said.

Anyone with information about the man can contact the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office at (800) 696-5403 or in the Bangor area 947-4585.


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