Hodgdon man charged after fleeing from police

By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    HOULTON, Maine — A 40-year-old Hodgdon man was behind bars Saturday after leading police on an hour-long foot chase that included a dip into the Meduxnekeag River.    Houlton Police officer Theron Bickford pulled over Michael Tucker for speeding on the Bangor Road at 1:59 p.m. Saturday. Bickford said he was traveling west on the Bangor Road when he spotted a vehicle heading east that appeared to be exceeding the speed limit. He clocked the vehicle doing 48 mph in a 40 mph zone.
“After almost 22 years of doing this job, sometimes you have a little voice in your head that says ‘something is not right here,’” Bickford said.
He turned his cruiser around and pulled the vehicle over on the Porter Settlement Road. Tucker was identified as the driver of the vehicle. Tucker told officer Bickford he was driving because his passenger had a suspended license.
Neither occupant had a license with them, but in the process of running Tucker’s name, Bickford learned that the driver also had suspended license and was wanted on an arrest warrant for failure to appear on a theft charge.
Patrolman Gary McGuire joined Bickford as he was in the process of arresting Tucker, when the subject bolted from police. Tucker climbed a steep embankment and entered a potato field before disappearing into a wooded area.
Maine State Police Sgt. Chad Fuller and his K-9 Glenni were called in to assist with tracking the suspect, who at one point dove into the Meduxnekeag River and was chest deep in the water as he tried to escape. Tucker managed to elude police for about an hour before he was finally found curled up in a wooded area located off the McIntyre Road.
Tucker was arraigned Monday in Aroostook County District Court after he pled guilty to operating after suspension ($250 fine), escape, refusing to submit to arrest and violation of bail conditions. He was sentenced to nine days in jail, to be served consecutively with a seven-day jail sentence on the original warrant.
The U.S. Border Patrol also assisted with the search.