Spike strip ends high speed chase

February 14, 2007

A man who stole a tractor-trailer truck from Dysart’s in Hermon and then led police on a high speed chase through Bangor and Orono on Sunday afternoon ended his joy ride in the Penobscot County Jail.

According to Lt. Steve Hunt of the Bangor Police Department, the truck was reported stolen from the parking lot of Dysart’s truck stop at 12:30. Shortly afterwards, Veazie Police Chief Mark Leonard saw the truck on Elm Street and tried to stop it.

“But it didn’t want to stop,” Hunt said.

As Leonard attempted to stop the truck, the driver, Lee Meservie, 42, whose last known address was on Austin Drive in Orono, swerved the front end “as though to hit the officer’s vehicle.” Meservie then took a left onto Hogan Road where he continued northbound on Interstate 95, still swerving the truck and causing a number of “near misses” with law enforcement vehicles. Two spike strips placed on the highway by state police failed to slow Meservie down before he got off the interstate at the Stillwater Avenue exit in Old Town, and then crossed back onto the highway, heading south.

The dangerous chase finally came to an end after Meservie drove the stolen truck over another spike strip placed at the Kelly Road exit in Orono. As he took a right off the exit and attempted to take another left onto Stillwater Avenue, shredded tires brought the vehicle to a halt and allowed police the chance to move in and arrest him.

Merservie was taken to the Penobscot County Jail, charged with several counts stemming from the chase, including reckless conduct, driving to endanger, failure to stop for a police officer, and use of a motor vehicle to cause criminal mischief. There was no word as of Monday whether the use of alcohol played a part in the incident. Meservie is a suspect in two other auto theft cases. Assisting in his capture were the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department, the Maine State Police, and Bangor, Veazie, and Orono police departments.