Police arrested a Saco man on Thursday after a multi-town chase in southern Maine and later learned that he may have been involved in a hit-and-run an hour earlier.
The chase started at about 10:10 a.m. when a state trooper saw a white Hyundai Sonata traveling at a “reckless speed,” passing other vehicles in a no passing zone and crossing into oncoming traffic on Route 25 in the York County town of Cornish, Maine Department of Public Safety spokesperson Shanon Moss said in a news release.
When the driver did not stop, the trooper coordinated with the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, who laid spike mats at the Limington-Standish town line, which is also the county line. The mats blew out both passenger-side tires of the Sonata, but the driver continued to flee, driving on deflating tires and rims, Moss said.
At the intersection of Routes 25 and 35 in Standish, the driver rear-ended another vehicle, whose driver sustained minor injuries, Moss said.
The driver of the Sonata then kept going east on Route 25 into Gorham, where a Maine State Police trooper was finally able to stop the car using a PIT maneuver, which involves using the front side of the cruiser to push sideways against the rear side of the other vehicle sending it into a spin.
The driver, Gabriel Nodarse, 28, of Saco, sustained minor injuries. He was evaluated at the scene and brought to York County Jail, where he was charged with eluding and reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon, Moss said.
Later, investigators learned that Nodarse was involved in a hit-and-run crash at about 9:10 a.m. that morning on High Street in Bridgton, Moss said. That crash involved two vehicles and minor damage, according to the Bridgton Police Department.
No additional information was immediately available.
