Police charge man who allegedly struck state trooper during central Maine car chase

Robert Belmain is escorted Thursday into the Kennebec County Correctional Facility after being arrested upon his discharge from a hospital following treatment of injuries he suffered June 14 in a crash in China. That crash, which followed a high-speed chase, seriously injured Trooper Mickael Nunez. Andy Molloy/ Kennebec Journal

A Caribou man who police say struck a state trooper with his car during a chase earlier this month was arrested Thursday after being discharged from the hospital.

Maine State Trooper Mickael Nunez Photo provided by Maine Department of Public Safety

Robert Belmain, 53, was arrested after he was released from Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston. Belmain faces multiple charges, the most serious being elevated aggravated assault and reckless conduct, according to Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

Elevated aggravated assault is a Class A crime punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

Belmain was allegedly fleeing from police in his car Sunday, June 14, when he struck Trooper Mickael Nunez. The trooper was setting up spike strips to try to deflate Belmain’s tires and stop his vehicle, on Route 3 in China, near the Family Dollar store.

Nunez, 30, a three-year trooper, suffered a severely broken leg and continues to be treated for his injuries at MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta. He underwent surgery, and his condition was upgraded from serious to fair in the days following the incident.

Belmain was arrested Thursday morning after he was released from the hospital, where he had been taken by a LifeFlight of Maine helicopter for treatment of head injuries following the crash.

Belmain was taken to Kennebec County jail in Augusta, where he was being held without bail, according to a jail official.

The crash occurred when Nunez was outside his cruiser on state Route 3, setting up spike strips to deflate Belmain’s tires, McCausland said in a statement released to the news media after the incident.

Robert Belmain Photo courtesy of Maine State Police

Nunez was hit as he was trying to retreat to a safe location along Route 3, near the Family Dollar store, McCausland said.

The chase had started about 30 minutes earlier on Interstate 95 in Waterville. Another state trooper had stopped Belmain’s car after receiving reports that a green sports car with no license plates was being driven erratically on I-95, just south of Clinton, according to McCausland.

Shortly after the car was pulled over in Waterville, police said, Belmain sped off. Police said he then drove erratically on I-95 and on Route 3 in Augusta, heading toward China.

McCausland said speeds on both roads reached 100 mph, and the car crashed after it struck Nunez.