Two local men will make their first appearances in court Monday morning after a high-speed chase early Saturday morning that spanned several towns and more than 17 miles.
Devin Charest, 20, and Corey Brume, 18, both of Lewiston, will be arraigned in Augusta Superior Court and Augusta District Court, respectively. Both men have been held in the Kennebec County Jail since their arrests early Saturday morning in Auburn by the Monmouth Police Department.
“I tried to pull him over, and he took off and refused to stop,” Monmouth police officer Dana Wessling said.
Charest is charged with eluding, passing a roadblock, unauthorized use of property, criminal speeding, driving to endanger, refusing to submit to arrest or detention, operating after suspension, criminal mischief and providing a place for minors to consume alcohol. His bail is set at $25,000.
Brume is charged with violation of conditions of release, illegal possession of liquor by a minor, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and obstructing government administration. Wessling said that the last charge stems from Brume throwing items out the front passenger window that were later retrieved and entered into evidence. Brume’s bail is set at $1,500.
Two other boys in the vehicle — one 17 years old, the other 15 and both from Auburn — were released to their parents’ custody following the chase. Brume and the two minors had all been drinking, Wessling said.
Wessling said Charest took his grandmother’s 2003 Pontiac Grand Am without her permission. The Lewiston woman, with whom Charest lives, did not report the car as stolen and told authorities that she wasn’t even aware that it was gone.
Wessling said he was running a routine radar check on Route 126, also known as Sabattus Road, at the Monmouth-Litchfield town line shortly after midnight when Charest was clocked traveling 62 mph in a 35 mph zone. Wessling attempted to pull Charest over, but the Lewiston man sped up and continued traveling on Route 126 through Wales and Sabattus.
“My speeds did reach 90 mph at times,” Wessling said of the chase.
When the 20-year-old drove into Lewiston, police officers deployed a spike mat at the intersection of Sabattus Road and East Avenue to disable the vehicle. Wessling said that Charest continued driving into Auburn despite both back tires being disabled.
Wessling said that Charest was “driving around in circles” in Auburn for a short time before finally running the disable car into a snowbank at the corner of Goff and Goss streets. Charest then fled the scene on foot and was caught two blocks away by a Lewiston police officer.
Wessling said that he does not know where Charest and his passengers were traveling to or from, adding that the juveniles involved told him that the group was “just out joyriding.”


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