LIVERMORE – A Wilton woman was arrested Saturday and charged with felony counts of eluding an officer, theft, and criminal restraint after she stole a vehicle with three young children inside from a gas station and drove off.
Shannon Dupree Androscoggin County Jail photo
Shannon Lee Dupree, 42, was charged with three Class C counts of criminal restraint and endangering the welfare of a child, along with single counts of theft by unauthorized taking, eluding an officer, driving to endanger, operating under the influence of drugs, and operating after suspension.
The Class C charges are punishable by up to five years in prison.
The Livermore Falls Police Department also charged Dupree with operating after suspension.
According to Deputy Chief William Gagne of the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office, a resident on Butter Hill Road in Livermore called 911 after hearing a disturbance between a man and a woman.
Deputies learned that the woman, later identified as Dupree, left the area on foot and headed toward Brettun’s Variety on Federal Road in Livermore.
Gagne said that Deputy Mike Mejia arrived at Brettun’s Variety and was flagged down by a man who said his 2010 Jeep Wrangler was stolen while his three children — aged six, four, and two — were inside.
Police quickly spotted the vehicle driving north on Route 4, and despite Livermore Falls Police Officer Walter Bachelder attempting to pull it over, it continued traveling north on Route 4 into Jay.
Gagne said Maine State Police used a tire deflating device on the vehicle, causing it to turn onto Greenridge Way — a dead end road — and crash into a garage and residence at the end of the road.
“The three children were not injured and were quickly reunited with their father,” Gagne added.
Dupree was found inside the vehicle and was taken to the Androscoggin County Jail, where she is being held on $10,000 cash bail.
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