Bridgton police and the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office are trying to find a woman who ran into the woods after allegedly driving her car into a cruiser.
Police now are seeking the public’s help in locating Melissa Penpraese, 45, after Bridgton officer Todd Smolinsky pulled over a silver Ford Focus for speeding at 9:20 p.m. Wednesday, said Bridgton Police Chief Richard Stillman. The driver initially pulled over and the officer suspected she was drinking, he said.
The woman did not have her license and when the officer returned to his cruiser to check on the information she provided, she drove off toward Naples. Stillman said the chase did not reach high speeds, but the woman refused to pull over.
The woman ended up driving to Accomac Road in Naples, one of a network of dirt roads, where she turned around and drove into the cruiser, causing $1,500 in damage, Stillman said. The officer got out and ordered her out of the car but she instead drove down another dirt road and then got out of the car and ran into the woods, he said.
Bridgton police were assisted by a police dog from the sheriff’s office and the Maine Warden Service but were unable to find her.
“It’s not so much that we want to prosecute, we want to find her to make sure she’s OK,” Stillman said. “We’re not going to arrest her. There will be charges at some point, but right now we just want to make sure she’s OK.”
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