FREEPORT, Maine — A 22-year-old Cumberland man was arrested early Monday morning after allegedly burglarizing the Oakley store in Freeport Village Station, then leading police from several towns on a chase down Route 1 that police say reached 100 miles per hour.
Freeport police charged Paul Tukey with theft, burglary, criminal mischief and theft of a vehicle, while Yarmouth police charged him with eluding an officer, driving to endanger, operating under the influence with two priors, operating without a license and speeding 25 to 29 miles per hour over the limit.
Freeport police officers went to Freeport Village Station at 12:10 a.m. Monday after a burglar alarm sounded, and found the front window had been broken and a sunglasses case had been ransacked, Freeport police Chief Gerald Schofield said.
After a Maine State Police dog tracked the suspect to the area of the Hilton Garden Inn, Sgt. Nate Goodman of the Freeport Police Department heard a vehicle leaving the village area at a high rate of speed, and then heard over the radio Yarmouth police had spotted a car headed south on Route 1 “at a little over 100 miles per hour,” the chief said.
Police from both towns, joined by Cumberland County sheriff’s deputies, pursued the truck to Sligo Road in North Yarmouth, where the suspect left the vehicle and fled on foot before being apprehended by a Cumberland County police dog.
According to Schofield, Yarmouth police noticed five to seven pairs of new Oakley sunglasses in the car, with the security tags still on them.
Officers allege Tukey stole one truck from Cumberland to travel to Freeport, and then stole another truck from Freeport to flee the crime scene. Schofield said Cumberland police may also charge Tukey with theft of a motor vehicle.
Tukey remained in Cumberland County Jail Monday, held without bail due to a probation hold. He is scheduled to appear in Cumberland County Unified Court Wednesday.