AUGUSTA — A judge on Wednesday refused to reduce the $25,000 bail set for a man held on driving charges who also is the sole suspect in a restaurant robbery.
Lucas Creamer, 32, of Bath, is charged with eluding an officer, operating under the influence and violating a condition of release. His attorney, Lisa Whittier, sought a lower bail for him and to suppress some evidence gathered in the driving case.
“The bail is artificially high based on the fact he was a robbery suspect when bail was set,” Whittier said. Creamer, however, has not been charged in connection with the robbery.
Whittier also asked Justice Michaela Murphy to dismiss the case, saying she received late evidence from the state.
At the close of Tuesday’s hearing in Kennebec County Superior Court, Murphy gave attorneys time to file arguments in writing and indicated she would issue a ruling later.
Creamer has been held in the Kennebec County jail since his arrest March 28, the night the Weathervane Restaurant on Route 17 in Readfield was robbed by a rifle-toting masked man. Those who witnessed the hold-up at the restaurant described the getaway car as a white vehicle, possibly a Mazda 232 or 626, with a loud exhaust system and without a light over the license plate.
Maine State Trooper Don Webber testified Tuesday that he saw a white two-door Acura stopped at a gas station in Manchester about 45 minutes after hearing the robbery report. He checked the plate number and learned the owner was Creamer.
The trooper testified that when he later attempted to halt the vehicle, the driver first slowed down and then sped off. A chase ensued, and Webber testified he broke it off after speeds reached 75 mph on slick roads.
He and two other troopers in a second cruiser then found the vehicle crashed and Creamer standing in the road, waving his arms, Webber testified.
“He said, ‘Bring it on,'” Webber said.
Creamer was then tackled by the other troopers and arrested. “He made several statements that he had screwed up, that he had f’d up,” Webber testified.
Murphy agreed to look at a CD made from the cruiser’s camera showing the chase.
Whittier argued that there was no reason for police to stop Creamer’s vehicle. She said it did not have a loud exhaust system, and the rear license plate light appears to be working. She said the video footage was exculpatory information, which is evidence that’s favorable to the defendant.
The prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Paul Rucha, said the CD shows that Creamer’s vehicle was being driven erratically, touching both the fog line — or right line — and the centerline, and that the plate light appears to be on but actually is reflecting the cruiser’s headlights.
Rucha said part of the difficulty with the case is that the state police were investigating the driving violations, while the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the robbery.
He also argued that Creamer’s bail should remain high, listing a series of criminal convictions dating back as far as 1999.
Whittier, however, said that none of those convictions was a felony, that Creamer is a lifelong Mainer and that the only time he failed to appear in court was when he was in jail.
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