AUBURN — A Lisbon man was indicted Tuesday on 18 crimes, nearly half of them felonies, stemming from a jail escape in May.
David Mockler Androscoggin County Jail photo
David R. Mockler, 23, is accused of stealing an SUV from the Androscoggin County Jail parking lot and was caught after crashing it in Mechanic Falls.
An Androscoggin County grand jury handed up an indictment that included eight felonies.
Mockler faces one count of theft by unauthorized taking and three counts of aggravated assault in connection with the incident. Each count is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
A felony charge of escape is punishable by up to five years in prison.
Mockler also is facing three counts of reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon for which, if convicted, he could be sentenced on each to up to five years in prison.
The grand jury also charged him with 10 misdemeanors in connection with the escape.
Rescue crews tend to passengers on the morning of May 23 in a car believed to have been driven off Minot Avenue in Auburn by an Androscoggin County Jail inmate who stole an SUV. Frank Grant photo
Mockler had been in custody at Androscoggin County Jail on drug charges before his escape on May 23.
Sheriff’s deputies said that, during a recreation period at the jail that morning, Mockler climbed a fence, squeezed through two rows of razor wire and jumped about 25 feet off a roof, likely fracturing both feet.
He appeared in court by videoconference from a hospital bed days after the incident, but was later transferred to Maine State Prison in Warren, where his injuries could be treated. He is being held without bail.
Mockler’s jail pants and underwear became tangled in the fence wire at the jail, where they were left during his escape. He stole an SUV parked nearby and was involved in a crash not far from the jail, according to police.
Deputies and local police pursued Mockler, who continued to drive in the damaged SUV to Mechanic Falls, where police attempted to stop him during a slow-speed chase due to a flattened front tire on the stolen vehicle.
Mockler turned the SUV into the private driveway of a former girlfriend where it crashed again and he was taken into custody.
In a police report, an investigator had written that Mockler had sought to recruit his apparent current girlfriend as a getaway driver after his escape, but she had refused.
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