A Union man on probation for a 2014 high-speed chase through several Lincoln County towns allegedly led officers on another chase through Waldoboro in a stolen car Thursday, Oct. 15.
Anthony J. Baker, 24, faces charges of class C eluding an officer, class C passing a police roadblock, class D theft by unauthorized use of property, and class E criminal speed, according to Waldoboro Police Chief Bill Labombarde.
The chase covered 12 miles and reached speeds of 95 mph, according to Labombarde.
Knox County issued an alert known as a BOLO – be on the lookout – to area law enforcement agencies late Oct. 14 for a vehicle Baker had allegedly stolen from his parents’ home in Union, according to Labombarde.
Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office personnel responded to Waldoboro to assist with the search. LCSO Sgt. Matt Day was about to leave Waldoboro when he spotted the vehicle at the Route 1 traffic light at 12:04 a.m., Thursday, Oct. 15.
Day turned around to follow the northbound vehicle and notified the Waldoboro Police Department. The cruisers “turned the lights on, and at that point he refused to stop and continued going at a high rate of speed up Route 1 toward Warren,” Labombarde said.
“The vehicle turned left onto Manktown Road, continuing at a high rate of speed, and then he turned left on Union Road, headed back toward Route 1, and then, when he got back to Route 1, he took a right and headed southbound,” Labombarde said.
Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Chubbuck deployed a spike mat in front of Moody’s Diner, immediately south of the intersection of Route 1 and Union Road.
The partially disabled vehicle continued about a mile to the base of Ralph’s Hill before going into a ditch at low speed, according to Labombarde.
Baker was arrested at 12:36 a.m. and transported to the Waldoboro Police Department and eventually Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset. As of Wednesday, Oct. 21, Baker remains at Two Bridges on a probation hold.
Waldoboro Police Department Sgt. Jamie Wilson and Officer Thomas Bartunek pursued Baker with assistance from Chubbuck, Day, Knox County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Lance Mitchell, and Knox County Sheriff’s Deputies Jeremy Joslin and Paul Spear.
“I’d like to thank Knox County and Lincoln County for assisting us in that,” Labombarde said. “I think everyone did a great job working together.”
Baker is on probation for a previous conviction of eluding an officer, according to the Maine Department of Corrections.
At about 4 a.m. Sept. 21, 2014, Wiscasset Police Department Officer Alfred “Willy” Simmons attempted to stop Baker for speeding 45 mph in a 25-mph zone on Main Street (Route 1) in a 2010 Toyota Corolla, according to reports.
Baker accelerated and led Simmons on a chase north along Route 1 through Wiscasset, Edgecomb, Newcastle, Damariscotta, and finally Nobleboro, where he hit a spike mat near Reunion Station. The chase reached speeds of 105 mph.
Baker pleaded guilty to eluding an officer, while related charges of criminal speed, driving to endanger, illegal possession of firearm, and theft by unauthorized use of property were dismissed.
He was sentenced to two years in custody with all but six months suspended, plus two years of probation, and ordered to pay $680.49 in restitution.
He was allowed to serve the six-month sentence concurrently with a nine-month probation revocation for a prior conviction of domestic violence terrorizing at the Maine Coastal Regional Reentry Center in Belfast.