NH Teen Leads Maine Police on Chase into Rumford in Stolen Pickup

For the second time this week, a resident of New Hampshire has led Maine police officers on a pursuit, while driving a stolen pickup truck.

The latest incident began Monday, just after 5:30 in the evening, when Maine State Police assisted Oxford County Sheriff's Deputies in the pursuit of a truck reported stolen out of Berlin, New Hampshire. The beige Chevy 1500 pickup was traveling eastbound through a construction zone on Route 2 in Bethel when the 17-year-old driver struck a vehicle and a jersey barrier. She continued on into Rumford, while successfully avoiding 3 different sets of spike mats.

The teen refused to stop despite the fact that she turned onto Knox Street, which is a dead-end road. She drove through a resident's yard, crashed through their fence, and hit a parked vehicle before traveling on Spruce Street and then back onto Route 2. At this point, she began heading westbound, in the direction of Bethel.

She was finally caught when Maine State Police Lieutenant Kyle Tilsley deployed spike mats near the intersection of Whippoorwill Road and Route 2 in Rumford. After the pickup ran over the spike mats, Lt. Tilsley was able use a maneuver known as a pursuit intervention technique to force the truck to stop. The driver, who was not hurt in the chase, was removed from the truck and taken to the New Hampshire state line, where the Berlin Police Department took her into custody.

Earlier on Monday, 33-year-old Mary Jo Hefferon of Farmington, New Hampshire was arrested on the Falmouth Spur, after leading police on a chase in a red pickup truck that was also stolen from New Hampshire. There's no word on whether these two cases are connected.