RUMFORD – More than a dozen police officers swarmed on the Rumford area Wednesday searching for the driver of a silver Volkswagen spotted driving at speeds topping 100 mph.

A deputy from the Oxford County Sheriff’s Department attempted to stop the car at about 4 p.m. after receiving a report of reckless driving along Route 108 in Canton.

Deputy Mike Halacy said he spotted a car fitting the description at a light on Congress Street in Rumford. The deputy turned his cruiser around to approach the Volkswagen before the driver took off at high speed.

Halacy pursued the car for three or four miles onto Route 2, he said. However, he was not able to get close enough to get specific registration information from the plate.

“I couldn’t safely keep up, not at the speeds he was going,” he said. “It would have been too dangerous.”

Early reports indicated the driver had hit speeds of 120 mph or more.

Maine State Police got involved in the search for the driver of the speeding car and Bethel police were notified to watch Route 26.

Around the same time, a woman on Route 232 reported the car had passed her at a high rate of speed.

“She reported it went by her at twice the speed limit,” Halacy said.

Deputies and state police searched Route 232 while Bethel monitored traffic along Route 26. At one point, police thought they had located the vehicle on Route 26 in Bryant Pond but it proved to be the wrong one.

Two hours after the chase began, police were still searching for the silver Volkswagen. They described it as a two-door hatchback with Maine lobster plates.

Halacy said it appeared the car had been souped up with a non-factory exhaust and other items.

“Somebody put some work into it,” Halacy said.

Police were asking that anyone with information about the vehicle call the Oxford County Sheriff’s Department at 1-800-733-1421 and press 2 for a dispatcher.