EAST MADISON — A Norridgewock man remained in the Somerset County Jail on Monday after a chase through two counties Saturday night that exceeded 100 mph before he was arrested in Augusta.

James Irvin Taylor, 35, is charged with several crimes, including traveling at speeds in excess of 115 mph on Waterville Road from Norridgewock into Fairfield.

The chase began just before 7 p.m. Saturday, when Somerset County Deputy David Cole spotted a white 1996 Ford Crown Victoria going 94 mph south on Waterville Road, which is Route 139, according to Chief Deputy Dale Lancaster.

After the deputy spotted the Crown Victoria, it accelerated, Lancaster said. He said the car was being driven by a man and had a female passenger.

Cole turned on his blue lights and siren, but the driver didn’t stop.

Sgt. Paul St. Amand of the Fairfield Police Department set up a road block south of the Melody Ranch dance hall on Route 139 and deployed road spikes in the travel lane.

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The car went around the spikes into a ditch on the opposite side of the road and kept going, Lancaster said.

He said the car continued erratically toward Waterville, still exceeding speeds of 100 mph.

Police ran the license pate number and found it to be registered to Taylor and that his driver’s license was suspended.

Lancaster said Cole slowed down because the car was heading toward a heavily populated area in Waterville at a dangerously high speed.

The deputy continued while officers from Waterville, Augusta, state police and the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office were notified of the chase.

The car got on Interstate 95 in Waterville and headed south, leaving the highway at exit 113 in Augusta.

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Lancaster said the car was spotted in the Maine Veterans’ Cemetery on Old Belgrade Road, near the new outlet of exit 113, by a Kennebec County sheriff’s deputy who attempted to stop it. The car kept going.

It head back to the Interstate, but Cole, parked near the 113 exit, blocked the road with his cruiser.

Taylor was taken into custody after he got stuck in a ditch trying to drive around the roadbloc, according to Lancaster.

Taylor was uncooperative and was physically restrained by police.

He is charged with eluding a police officer, failure to stop for a police officer, criminal speed, driving to endanger, operating after suspension, passing a roadblock and two counts of refusing to sign a traffic ticket.

The passenger, 24, of Norridgewock, who police didn’t identify, was not charged.

Further charges may be forthcoming, once the district attorney reviews the case, Lancaster said.

Taylor appeared in court in Skowhegan Monday morning where bail was set at $2,500 cash. By Monday afternoon, he had not made bail, according to a jail intake worker.

Doug Harlow — 612-2367
dharlow@mainetoday.com


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