BANGOR, Maine — A District Court judge last week dismissed some, if not all, charges against a local 12-year-old boy who was accused of erratically driving a school bus in May and, about six weeks later, accused of leading police on an early morning chase after he allegedly took a joy ride in a stolen car.
Judge John Lucy dismissed on Election Day the case involving the June 25 chase in Bangor, according to Mary Ann Lynch, spokeswoman for the court system.
Information about why Lucy did so and whether the case involving the May 3 school bus also was dismissed was not available at the Penobscot Judicial Center.
Lucy impounded everything in the boy’s file except for what already had been made public when the boy was charged with eluding an officer, a felony.
Under Maine law, cases involving juveniles charged with felonies are public but cases charging juveniles with only misdemeanors are closed.
The boy, who turns 13 this week, is not being named by the Bangor Daily News because there is no information showing he’s been convicted of a felony.
He was charged with misdemeanors in connection with the school bus incident, so records in that case are not public.
James Aucoin, assistant district attorney for Penobscot County, and defense attorney Seth Harrow of Bangor both declined to comment on the case, citing Lucy’s decision to seal the case.
In the June incident, the boy was charged with eluding an officer, a Class C felony, and unauthorized use of a vehicle, a Class D misdemeanor, according to the juvenile petition, which is the equivalent of a complaint in adult court. In the case involving the school bus, the youngster was charged with one count each of unauthorized use of a vehicle and driving without a licence, both Class D misdemeanors, police said in May.
On June 27, Lucy ordered the boy be held at Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland. Information about who is being held at Long Creek is not public information, according to the superintendent’s office.
Where the boy is living could not be determined this week.
Video from the dashboard camera of the police car driven by arresting officer Evan Haskell during the June 25 chase showed the driver ran stop signs and red lights, made wide and frequent turns, and traveled at speeds of between 35 and 55 mph. The speed limit on most of the streets where the chase took place is 25 mph.
The dashboard camera video was obtained by the BDN under the state’s Freedom of Access Act.
The boy allegedly took a 2011 Kia van registered to a relative. Haskell noticed the van on Ohio Street, near the intersection of Griffin Road, about 4 a.m. The van was driving without headlights, had front-end damage and was dragging part of the front bumper.
The vehicle was stopped after about eight minutes on Broadway between Center and Congress streets when Sgt. Jason Stuart rammed it in the side, police said in June. The driver was taken into custody without incident.
The video showed few other drivers were on the streets at the time, and police reported that no one was injured.
The bus the boy was accused of driving was parked at the John T. Cyr and Sons lot on Ohio Street when it was taken at about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 3, according to police.
The keys were in the vehicle when the boy allegedly got access to the bus.
The alleged joy ride in the bus was captured on cellphone video by John W. St. Germain III, who spotted the stolen vehicle with his girlfriend. The pair subsequently began following the vehicle and called police.
St. Germain, who got onto the bus and intervened when it stopped at the intersection of Griffin Road and Ohio Street, was presented with a challenge coin by Bangor police a few days after the incident.