Mexico police news

MEXICO — The Police Department responded to 109 complaints from May 1 through 14, including the following:

* At 7:56 p.m. May 11, officer Rob Drouin took a report of an erratic driver traveling on Route 120 toward Roxbury Pond Village in a Saab convertible. A witness told police the driver “was coming down through the notches and almost ran him off the road … ,” Police Chief Roy Hodsdon said Thursday morning.

Drouin spotted the suspect vehicle, which turned out to be a BMW convertible, being driven south on Route 17. He turned on the cruiser siren and flashing lights, but the driver refused to pull over. He followed it to an initial traffic stop on Route 2 near the Naples meat-packing store in Mexico, Hodsdon said.

While Drouin was advising a dispatcher in Paris of the stop, the driver took off. “Rumford Police Chief Stacy Carter came in his personal vehicle to assist Rob and helped out, so it was nice he was right there,” Hodsdon said.

Drouin and Carter caught up to the BMW, which crashed into a guardrail while trying to turn right onto the Androscoggin River bridge.

The driver was identified as Derek Plourde, 19, of Kennebec Trail Road in Turner, the chief said.

“Rob told me that Plourde was traveling in excess of 60 to 70 mph when he tried to turn onto the bridge,” Hodsdon said. “Alcohol was a factor, but we’re still waiting for results of a test to charge him with OUI.”

Hodsdon said Plourde complained of pain to his chest.

Drouin arrested Plourde on a charge of failure to stop for a police officer. Plourde was taken to Rumford Hospital by Med-Care Ambulance. He is to be arraigned on July 13 in 11th District Court.

The 2002 BMW, which Hodsdon said is owned by Plourde’s mother, Karen Plourde, of Turner, was a total loss.

* At 12:02 p.m. May 8, Hodsdon received a call from the Meroby Elementary School principal, who said that overnight someone damaged the school’s fitness equipment that was cemented into the ground. The vandal ripped it out of the ground along with some signs telling children how to use the equipment. Hodsdon estimated the damage at $2,000 and is seeking help from the public to find the culprit. He said he had no suspects.

* At 5:46 p.m. May 7, a Chase Avenue resident reported that while she was gone from her home, someone entered it and stole several items valued at an estimated $100. Police have suspects.

* At 8:01 a.m. May 6, Hodsdon and Drouin received a call from Dixfield Police Chief Jeffrey Howe that an unknown man was setting fire to the bank of mowed grass at Rowe’s Afternoon Delite restaurant on Route 2.

Hodsdon said police could see smoke above the trees from about a mile away and they found an uncooperative man with burned clothing standing beside flames that were 2 feet high. The man, later identified as Lorenzo Vargas, 52, of Brackett Street in Dixfield, started running but was caught and handcuffed.

Vargas was arrested on charges of arson and refusing to submit to arrest. He was freed on $2,000 unsecured bail and released by the bail commissioner to Rumford Hospital for evaluation. He will be arraigned on July 13 in 11th District Court.

Hodsdon said Howe smothered the fire enough to keep it from spreading to a house and it was extinguished by firefighters.

* At 6:35 p.m. May 4, a Granite Street resident reported someone entered her home and stole an undisclosed amount of cash. Police have suspects.

* At 9:27 a.m. May 3, four reports were received about four damaged mailboxes on Harlow Hill Road and a garage on Swett Avenue that was hit by a vehicle. The damage was related to a personal injury accident reported at 10:48 p.m. May 2 on nearby Harlow Hill Road.

Officer Dean Benson found Angela O’Leary, 19, of Somerset Street in Rumford, in an extensively-damaged 2005 Dodge Neon. O’Leary had suffered head injuries and was taken to Rumford Hospital. Hodsdon said Benson summoned O’Leary on charges of operating under the influence and criminal mischief. She will be arraigned on July 13 in 11th District Court.