BAR HARBOR, Maine — A Maine man who was allegedly speeding on Route 3 on Saturday night before smashing head-on into a Bar Harbor/Mount Desert Island police cruiser at approximately 9:16 p.m., has been charged with attempted murder.
Riley McClure, 22, of Raymond, faces numerous charges after the collision by the Chart Room Restaurant on Route 3, in Hulls Cove.
According to a report on the crash, Bar Harbor Police Officer Judson Cake had tried to stop the speeding Impreza by Hamilton Station, by Hamilton’s Pond on State Highway 3.
The Impreza was clocked on radar at 75 mph in a 45 mph speed limit zone. When Cake attempted to follow McClure, he “took off” in the black 2014 Subaru Impreza. Cake continued a high-speed chase through Hulls Cove toward the main Bar Harbor neighborhood.
While in pursuit of the Impreza, Cake noticed officer Nathan Formby’s cruiser parked at the side of the road with emergency lights on, partially in the breakdown lane, facing the oncoming chase.
“Officer Cake stated that Officer Formby’s cruiser looked as though he was at a dead stop, and the Impreza looked like it intentionally struck Officer Formby’s cruiser,” according to Maine State Trooper Hunter Fernald’s report on the crash. “Officer Formby stated as the pursuit approached his location, that is when he saw the Impreza swerve into his cruiser.”
A tow truck driver and his passenger also witnessed the crash. The driver had been parked there before heading to his next tow and had just opened the door to his cab when the crash happened, he told the Bar Harbor Story.
McClure had apparently sped by School House Hill on Route 3 before slightly dropping his speed as he drove through Hulls Cove, moments prior to the crash.
“Call an ambulance. He just hit 415 [Formby], head-on,” Cake said over the radio.
Fire personnel on scene treated Formby for minor injuries after he received a scrape from the cruiser’s airbag deploying.
McClure was transported to the hospital, and had reportedly been treated for internal injuries and a possible leg injury.
Officers had reason to believe that McClure may have been driving under the influence, after inspecting the Impreza and finding “two empty alcohol cans on the passenger floorboard.”
“I also took note of a dash camera that was attached to the center of the windshield. I also noticed that the Impreza’s speedometer needle was stuck at ’58 MPH.’” Fernald wrote in his report.
Both McClure’s vehicle and the officer’s vehicle were badly damaged.
McClure, who is on probation out of York County, was arrested and taken to Hancock County Jail after being released from the Mount Desert Island Hospital. He is on a probation hold at the jail and will likely have a probation revocation hearing in the near future.
McClure’s bail has been set at $50,000 cash, or $100,000 surety.
An affidavit in support of probable cause filed by Assistant District Attorney Delwyn E. Webster said there was cause to charge Riley D. McClure (DOB 5.1.2003) with attempted murder, Class A; two counts of aggravated assault, Class B; assault on an officer, Class C; eluding an officer, Class C; three counts of aggravated criminal mischief, Class C; reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon, Class C; driving to endanger, Class E; failure to stop for an officer, Class E; and criminal speed, Class E.
McClure was also summonsed later Saturday night for allegedly assaulting staff at Mount Desert Island Hospital.
Bar Harbor Police Officer Virginia Helton summonsed Riley McClure, 22, of Bangor, with a charge of assault in an emergency room, a Class C felony.
It is not McClure’s first interaction with law enforcement. In November 2022, WMTW reported that a Riley McClure, 19, of Raymond, Maine had allegedly refused to stop for a sheriff’s deputy after making an unsafe pass on the River Road in Windham.
