A man involved in a gas theft and police chase last week has been arrested, according to Ashland police.
Bernard Skidgell, 31, of Woodland was arrested Thursday, Ashland Police Chief Michael Montpetit said in a release on social media.
Skidgell was charged with theft, eluding a police officer, criminal speed, operating an unregistered motor vehicle and false attachment of plates.
The arrest came 10 days after Montpetit asked the public’s help in identifying the owner of a pickup truck seen outside the Ashland Shell station on Jan. 6. The driver sped away without paying for gas and diesel.
Police spotted the vehicle later that night and tried to stop the driver, who led officers on a high-speed chase through town and onto Portage Road. Police ended the chase after it reached unsafe speeds.
Maine State Police troopers later located the truck, which had crashed and been abandoned on High Meadow Road in Perham, Maine Department of Public Safety spokesperson Shannon Moss said last week.
Caribou police assisted Ashland in the arrest, Montpetit said.