A woman is facing multiple charges after allegedly leading police on two high-speed chases across four towns and ramming into a cruiser with an officer inside.
The incident started just before 11 a.m. Thursday when Brunswick police officers tried to stop a driver on Route 1 near Cook’s Corner for a criminal traffic violation, Brunswick Police Chief Scott Stewart said in a news release.
The driver, later identified as Emily Schroder, 33, of Bath, allegedly sped away from the officers headed northbound on Route 1, leading the officers to abandon the chase.
Soon after, an officer found Schroder’s vehicle on Oak Street in Brunswick, at which point Schroder allegedly drove toward and rammed the front of the stopped cruiser, backed up and rammed it again, harder than the first time, then sped away with officers in pursuit, Stewart said.
The officer in the cruiser was not injured, Stewart said.
The chase continued through Topsham, Bowdoin and Bowdoinham, then onto Interstate 295, headed north, where Schroder “drove at extreme speeds” before officers again stopped chasing her, Stewart said.
Schroder was later found at a gas station in Richmond and taken into custody by officers from the Richmond Police Department, Maine State Police and the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office.
She was evaluated at Mid Coast Hospital, then taken to the Cumberland County Jail and charged with eluding an officer, driving to endanger, refusing to submit to arrest, assault on an officer, aggravated criminal mischief, violating conditions of release, and criminal speed.
She was denied bail because of underlying bail conditions, Stewart said.
