A Maine man is facing eight charges after he allegedly stole a vehicle and drove the wrong way on I-95 in Bangor, before a police dog was used to subdue and arrest him.
Lawrence Knowles, 60, of Norridgewock, is charged with one felony count each of eluding an officer and reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon. He is charged with one misdemeanor count each of unauthorized use of property, operating after revocation, failure to stop for an officer, driving to endanger, violation of conditions of release and failure to yield.
He had his first appearance Wednesday in Penobscot County Superior Court. Knowles did not enter a plea, which is standard in the first appearance for a felony case. The charges will be presented to a grand jury, which will decide whether or not to indict.
Around 9:18 p.m. Saturday, a Maine game warden called in about a driver on I-95 near mile marker 186 in Bangor who was brake checking the warden, driving erratically and hitting construction traffic cones, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The driver, later determined to be Knowles, allegedly ignored emergency lights and sirens. He is accused of using a restricted emergency vehicle crossover to turn south, before crossing back and driving south in northbound lanes near Hogan Road, the affidavit said.
A Maine State trooper rammed Knowles’ pickup truck, forced it into a ditch and into trees about 100 feet away. The driver then started driving again, heading toward either the trooper’s disabled cruiser or oncoming traffic, the affidavit said.
A second trooper rammed the pickup, keeping the cruiser against it and the warden drove his truck into the front of Knowles’ vehicle, according to the affidavit.
The trooper started yelling for Knowles to exit the vehicle, but he did not acknowledge it and kept putting his hands up and down, the affidavit said. Knowles was continuously revving the truck’s engine, to the point where it was smoking.
Knowles continued to not cooperate with police despite being held at gunpoint and his vehicle pinned in place, the affidavit said. Troopers broke a passenger window of the pickup and warned Knowles that they would be releasing a police dog.
A trooper assisted the dog through the broken window and the dog bit Knowles’ right arm, but he “did not appear to have any type of pain reaction,” the affidavit said. The dog continued to hold the bite while another trooper broke the driver’s window to get control of Knowles.
Once a trooper had hands on Knowles, the dog released its bite and a trooper put the dog back in a cruiser, according to the affidavit.
After Knowles was arrested he was taken to the hospital and declined medical treatment, the affidavit said.
The truck Knowles was driving was reported stolen out of Skowhegan about two hours earlier that night, according to the affidavit.
Knowles was hitchhiking, which is how he ended up in the vehicle, defense attorney Deven Soondar said.
He is not receiving necessary medications in jail, has a surgery scheduled in the early fall and has several bites from a police dog that are healing, Soondar said. The jail has an obligation to ensure Knowles is receiving his medications, Judge Ann Murray said.
Knowles has a lengthy criminal history, according to a criminal history check from the Maine State Bureau of Identification.
He pleaded guilty to one felony count each of eluding an officer, passing a roadblock and theft by unauthorized use of property in Kennebec County on March 25, 2025. That same day he was sentenced to three years in prison.
He was released from prison on July 2 this year, through a combination credit for time served and good time credits, Maine Department of Correction spokesperson Jill O’Brien said.
Five days after Knowles was released, he was charged with misdemeanor indecent conduct case pending in Cumberland County.
Prior to that, Knowles pleaded guilty to felony reckless conduct in April 2022 in Somerset County. A charge of robbery was dismissed, according to the criminal history check. He was sentenced to one year in prison.
In September 2021, he pleaded guilty to eluding an officer, Class C, in Somerset County, and was sentenced to three years, with all but seven months suspended. He had four probation violations in two years.
He has pleaded guilty to at least 20 misdemeanors since 2014, according to the criminal history check.
Knowles was granted a $25,000 cash bail and he remains in the Penobscot County Jail.