CUMBERLAND — Police arrested three people after a car chase early Sunday morning that covered 4.7 miles.
Lt. Milton Calder on Monday said Officer Antonio Ridge was following a Volvo on Route 100 at 12:50 a.m. and ran a check on the registered owner. When he learned the owner, Meghan Cangello, 18, of Kennebunk, was subject to random searches and testing without probable cause, Ridge tried to stop the vehicle after it turned onto Blackstrap Road.
The vehicle accelerated and Ridge followed, with the chase reaching speeds of 70 mph, Calder said. Ridge ultimately found the vehicle on Blackstrap Road in Falmouth, just south of Bentridge Drive, where he could see it had veered off the road, through some trees and a fence and stopped against a barn. A search for the occupants ensued and two passengers – Cangello and Savannah Barnes, 19, of Kennebunk – were found as they tried to return to the car, Calder said.
Cangello claimed she had not been driving the vehicle and had been asleep during the pursuit, but could not explain why she had fled the scene, Calder reported. She was arrested on a charge of permitting unlawful use of a motor vehicle, since it turned out the vehicle operator – John Martell, 30, of Horton Place, Portland – did not have a license. Barnes was arrested on charges of representing another person’s license or identification as her own, and violation of conditions of release.
Ridge eventually found Martell walking north on Blackstrap Road in Falmouth, near the Cumberland line, at 7:30 a.m. Martell, who Ridge was able to identify by a tattoo on his neck, was arrested on charges of eluding an officer, aggravated operating after habitual offender revocation, reckless conduct, speeding more than 30 mph over the speed limit, failing to make a written accident report and violation of conditions of release.
Martell was scheduled to be arraigned Monday morning. Calder said on Tuesday that the Cumberland County District Attorney’s office was only proceeding with charges against Martell, and that Cangello and Barnes are not being charged at this time.
Alex Lear can be reached at 373-9060 ext. 113 or alear@theforecaster.net.
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