CARIBOU, Maine — A man from Presque Isle faces numerous charges and is recovering from his injuries after he was shot Wednesday by a Caribou officer when he attempted to run over the officer with a stolen utility vehicle, according to police.
Caribou police initially responded to a call around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday about a stolen pickup truck. After police located the vehicle, they attempted to initiate a traffic stop, but the driver apparently did not comply.
Police then obtained a temporary arrest warrant for theft.
Several hours later, the suspect later identified as 37-year-old Marc Beaulieu of Presque Isle was located again around 5:45 a.m. by police in Caribou. Police said Beaulieu allegedly resisted arrest and managed to evade officers who were attempting to use a stun gun on him in an effort to bring him into custody.
Beaulieu then fled on foot, then managed to operate an apparently stolen UTV. Police said Beaulieu then attempted to run over Caribou police Officer Doug Bell with the UTV. Bell then shot Beaulieu, but the Presque Isle man again evaded arrest.
Law enforcement officials conducted a search of the area in an effort to find Beaulieu and take him into custody. Caribou police announced the search on their Facebook page around 7:15 a.m. He was finally found and arrested shortly before 8 a.m. in the town of Woodland by officials with the Aroostook County Sheriff's Office.
Beaulieu was brought to Cary Medical Center to be treated for injuries not considered life-threatening and faces several charges, including attempted murder.
Bell was treated at Cary Medical Center and released for injuries he suffered when he was avoiding being hit by Beaulieu, police said. Bell has been placed on administrative leave while the attorney general's office conducts a deadly use-of-force investigation, which is standard procedure.
Maine State Police is also investigating the case.
"There was great cooperation between the agencies for an incident that an officer just happened upon," Caribou police Chief Michael Gahagan said. "The sheriff's office, the state, the game wardens, just really worked so well together. ... I can't say enough about the collaboration that helped resolve this in just a few hours."