TEMPLE – One police officer was injured and no arrests have been made after five vehicles, two of which were chased by police officers, were reported stolen Tuesday night in what appears to involve multiple suspects driving off in vehicles from owners’ driveways in Farmington and Temple.
Police are looking for a man described as in his early 20s, clean cut, wearing a sweatshirt and jeans, who may have injured his right arm.
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At 10:53 p.m. the first report of a stolen vehicle from Temple was called into Franklin County Dispatch Center. Sheriff’s Deputy Sandy Burke spotted a vehicle reported as stolen and, after it attempted to ram his patrol vehicle, Burke said, he chased it until it went off the road and crashed on Route 43. The suspects jumped out of the stolen vehicle and fled into the woods.
Farmington Police Officer Matthew Hunt responded to a complaint on Clover Mill Road after a resident watched someone drive off in his pick-up truck. The truck was found a short time later parked on the side of the road.
Cpl. Nate Bean of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department and his dog arrived to track the suspect from where the stolen truck was left.
At 11:15 p.m. another vehicle reported as stolen was seen and, Wilton Police Department Officer Nate Reid responding in a mutual aid assist, parked his cruiser on a straight portion of Route 43 at the intervale in Temple. He laid a spike strip mat down across the road, which is designed to puncture a vehicle’s tires and stop it, said Wilton Police Chief Dennis Brown today.
“The suspects approached Officer Reid’s patrol unit and turned off their headlights. The stolen vehicle crossed left of center and drove into Officer Reid’s travel lane. Officer Reid attempted to back up but the suspects’ vehicle collided with the cruiser,” Brown said.
After colliding with the cruiser, the stolen vehicle went off the road and rolled onto its driver’s side in a resident’s front yard on Route 43. The suspects fled on foot.
Reid was transported to Franklin Memorial Hospital after the crash and was released and recovering from minor injuries, Brown said.
Lt. Jack Peck of the Farmington Police Department said he received a tip this morning that one of the vehicles reported stolen was parked undamaged at McDonald’s on Main Street. An employee at the restaurant had spoken with the man who drove the pickup to the restaurant and provided a state police sketch artist with a description.
Peck said the suspect was picked up at McDonald’s at 4:05 a.m. Wednesday morning by someone driving a light-colored Dodge Intrepid sedan.
All five stolen vehicles have been recovered, Peck said. Drivers should remove the keys from their cars, as all the cars stolen involved in this case had the keys left in them.
The Maine State Police are investigating the accidents involving police cruisers. Anyone with information about the incidents is asked to call the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department at 778-2680 or the Wilton Police Department at 645-3876 or the Farmington Police Department at 778-6312.
