Two Dexter men were taken to the hospital Tuesday after the car they were in went off Route 222 in Hermon, snapped a utility pole and hit a tree.

Driver Douglas Gnade, 19, and passenger Eric Brannen, 18, were wearing seat belts at the time of the accident. Gnade’s injuries were limited to a laceration to an elbow while Brannen suffered facial injuries, according to police.

The accident knocked out power in the area, Penobscot County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Adams said.

The two were headed west on Route 222 at about 6 p.m. when the car they were in had mechanical problems prompting the car to shoot off the road, Penobscot County Sheriff’s Deputy David Quinn said. The car clipped the pole and then hit a tree.

A Brewer man was arrested Monday night for criminal mischief after he allegedly punched out a window and door of an apartment he shared with his girlfriend on Holyoke Street.

Brewer police Officer Ed Willey responded to reports of breaking glass and an alleged comment about a baseball bat, and upon arriving at the scene found that Isaac Wright, 28, had been locked out of his apartment by his girlfriend. Wright had been arguing with her and threw a bookcase across the room, police said. No one was hurt.

– . –

Brewer police arrested a couple Tuesday night who allegedly attempted to steal $1,200 worth of merchandise from the Brewer Wal-Mart.

Bryant Coiburn, 20, of Bangor, and Bertha Stanley, 24, transient, along with two other suspects, were observed placing movies and cologne into their backpacks by store security. All four were stopped as they tried to exit the store, but two of the suspects ran from Officers Jeremy Upham and Amy Nickerson, leaving Coiburn and Stanley behind.

Stanley previously had been charged with the sale and use of drug paraphernalia, and Coiburn was on probation. The police were seeking the other two suspects.

A speeding red 1995 Chevrolet pickup truck didn’t immediately stop Tuesday for a Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department deputy, the reason for which the deputy later learned.

The driver, 27-year-old William Kenney of Newport, initially explained that he was “stupid” for not stopping for Deputy Michael Adams after driving nearly 30 mph over the speed limit in a chase that began in Hermon and ended on Fowlers Landing in Hampden on Tuesday afternoon.

Adams determined that the license plate belonged to another vehicle and the inspection sticker had been altered: too many months had been cut out. Kenney also couldn’t provide proof of insurance. He was charged with all those infractions as well as failure to stop for a police officer and speeding 72 mph in a 45 mph zone.

The passenger had legal problems as well. Paul Downing, 24, of Palmyra was wanted on a warrant issued out of Somerset County for unpaid fines and he also still had his license on him even though it was suspended and should have been turned in to the state.

– Compiled by BDN reporters Kailee Bradstreet and Doug

Kesseli