ELLSWORTH, Maine — Two men are facing charges after separate motorcycle chases Friday in neighboring towns.
In Lamoine, Hancock County Sheriff’s Deputy Chris Sargent was on Route 204 around 7 a.m. Friday when he encountered a motorcycle traveling at 111 mph in a 45 mph zone.
The motorcycle operator initially refused to stop after being signaled to do so by Sargent, according to a sheriff’s department incident summary report, but a short time later stopped on Buttermilk Road in Lamoine.
The operator, Mark Condon, 29, of Lamoine, was arrested on charges of eluding an officer and exceeding the speed limit by 30 mph or more.
Another motorcycle driver is accused of leading police on a chase Friday evening after he allegedly struck a vehicle in Bar Harbor and then fled.
According to police, Brandon Brown, 24, of Franklin crashed his motorcycle in Trenton as he tried to avoid being apprehended.
The initial accident occurred in Bar Harbor at the intersection of Eden and West streets at around 5 p.m. Friday, according to Bar Harbor police Officer Soren Sundberg. Brown was suspected of driving under the influence, Sundberg said, but was long gone by the time the accident was reported and local police arrived at the scene. He said the driver of the other vehicle, a local resident whom he declined to identify, was not injured.
Other law enforcement agencies were provided with a description of the motorcycle and, a short time later, Trooper Greg Roy of Maine State Police saw Brown heading north on Route 3 in Trenton near the Acadia Gateway Center.
Roy said Saturday morning that Brown sped off when Roy turned to stop him. The chase lasted for two miles before Brown lost control of the bike, laying it over on its side as he tried to turn onto Route 204.
“He reached speeds well over 100 mph during the chase,” Roy said.
The trooper pulled up next to Brown after Brown crashed at the intersection of routes 3 and 204, but still Brown tried to right the motorcycle and to get away, Roy said.
“I had to physically remove him from the bike as he tried to leave,” the trooper said.
The Kawasaki motorcycle had visible signs of damage both from the accident in Bar Harbor and from sliding out of control on Route 3, Roy said.
Brown was not wearing a helmet during the accidents or chase, he said.
Brown is facing a host of criminal counts as a result of the incident, according to Roy.
He was arrested and charged by Maine State Police with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of intoxicants, refusing to submit to a chemical test, eluding an officer, criminal speed, operating a motor vehicle without insurance, operating an unregistered vehicle, driving to endanger, refusing to submit to arrest and having an expired inspection sticker. He also was summoned by Bar Harbor Police Department with leaving the scene of a personal injury accident, he said.
Brown was transported from the Trenton accident scene to Maine Coast Memorial Hospital, where he was treated Friday evening for road rash, cuts and scrapes. From there, he was taken to Hancock County Jail in Ellsworth, where he remained Saturday morning, Roy said.
Follow BDN reporter Bill Trotter on Twitter at @billtrotter.
I was driving one of the vehicles the second smart fellow in this article came very close to clipping head on at those speeds. I have to commend State Trooper Roy as he followed in pursuit. I could see he was reserved and cautious about his speed by his driving actions, especially with all that traffic of a Friday afternoon. A word of advice if the arrested one reads this… police officers have radios that can call other police officers faster then 100 miles per hour.
111 mph in a 45? Throw the book at him!
what a couple of block heads you cant outrun the radio or cell phone and to top it off one of the perps was oui not too bright bein on a bike and trying to outrun the law
I’m glad they opened a fireworks store in Ellsworth. Even these two could be safer handling small explosives than riding motorcycles.
Wow, it could have been much worse. A motorcycle you are so exposed. We could have been reading their obits right now.
“Mark Condon, 29, of Lamoine, was arrested on charges of eluding an officer and exceeding the speed limit by 30 mph or more.”
“Brandon Brown, 24, of Franklin crashed his motorcycle ”
——O, shucks. i was hoping to read at the end of this news
story the both of you were killed in fiery deaths at the
end of the chases. then i get to read relatives posting here
how such sweet innocent people you were
Two pieces of meat waiting to become hamburger.
hahaha! how about hamburger helper
i wonder if they saw that video floating
around on the internet,a motorcyclist
crashes dead and his heart landed 20 feet from
the body,still beating
Both should have their licenses permanently taken away for life.
“permanently for life” is a little redundant, but I like it and agree!
111? Seriously?!? Apparently some one is not mature enough to handle having a bike that can go at that speed… IMHO. There is a huge difference between some one’s age and some one’s maturity level, and it seems like there was a fairly large gap between the two for at least one of these gentlemen. Glad the story did not end for them similar to the incident over to Seal Harbor…
i am ALL FOR IT, motorcyclists should be able to
go as fast as they want…70,90,110 ..no helmet,thats
ok too! ..they are only get rid of themselves