Police on Saturday arrested a Kentucky man after a high-speed car chase that ended in a crash on Route 1 in Kennebunk.
Joshua Burton Photo courtesy of York County Jail
Joshua Burton, 27, of Louisville was reported to have stolen a vehicle from the Mr. Mike’s Mobil station in York around 9:40 a.m. Saturday, authorities said. A witness there told police that a man had driven away with a vehicle that was unlocked, with the keys inside, along with a dog and the owner’s cellphone.
Police later spotted the car in Wells and tried to pull it over. Burton then fled, and reached “unsafe and reckless speeds with evasive maneuvers to elude officers,” police in Wells, Kennebunk and York said in a news release Saturday afternoon.
Officers chased Burton for about 5.5 miles, to Hall Street in Kennebunk, where the car struck another vehicle and rolled over. Police arrested Burton, and charged him with theft, eluding a police officer, and two counts of reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon.
Burton and the two occupants of the vehicle he hit were taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland for treatment of injuries, police said. The dog in the stolen vehicle “took off from the car” after the crash, according to the news release.
Burton was treated for his injuries and released, a hospital spokesperson said. He was transported to the York County Jail in Alfred around 5:30 p.m. Saturday. His bail was set at $20,000.
Route 1 near Hall Street in Kennebunk was closed for a few hours late Saturday morning and early afternoon as authorities cleaned up and investigated the scene.
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