Maine man charged with theft and crashing two police cars held without bail – NECN

A man accused of crashing two police vehicles during a police chase that ended with gunfire from 11 officers should be held without bail pending his trial, prosecutors said Monday.

Gary Porter of Maine was arrested on a warrant for theft on May 6 when he escaped from police custody, setting off a chaotic series of events in rural Paris, police said. Porter, wearing handcuffs and a hospital gown, stole a police vehicle, crashed it and then stole another before crashing that one and being taken back into custody after a shootout, police said.

Porter appeared in court for the first time Monday after a series of delays. A judge ruled that probable cause was found in the case and that Porter will remain in jail until a June 4 bond revocation hearing.

The decision was appropriate given the “incredibly serious and reckless nature of these allegations,” Assistant District Attorney Richard Beauchesne said in court. He said Porter’s actions posed a risk to “all police officers involved in the pursuit.”

Porter appeared in court via Zoom on Monday and addressed the judge only briefly.

He has not yet entered a plea, has not been charged and must complete a competency test before a plea can be entered, said his attorney, Justin Leary. After the court appearance, Leary said he was still gathering information about the case.

“Over time, the public will receive all the factual information,” Leary said.

The chase began May 6 after Porter was found passed out in a chicken coop, police said. A local police chief was taking him to jail when he pulled the handcuffs from behind his back, got into the driver’s seat and drove off, police said.

Police rolled out mats with spikes to destroy the stolen patrol car’s tires. A passerby’s video then captured some of the shots that followed. In the video, shots ring out as Porter gets into a second police vehicle and drives off again before the accident occurs for the second time.

Police said Porter was shot once in the shooting and was treated at a hospital.