YARMOUTH, Maine (NEWS CENTER) — An early morning high speed chase ended when the driver crashed into a business in Yarmouth.
The crash damaged Reed's Machine Shop and three vehicles on the property.
The driver, 21-year-old Anthony Lane, now faces charges — both a felony and multiple misdemeanors. Officials said this all could have been avoided if he had just pulled over and cooperated with police.
The entire chase lasted only one minute and 42 seconds.
An officer was originally trying to pull Lane over for a broken license plate light in Cumberland. Officials later learned that he also didn't have a license.
He initially did pull over, but then sped away from the officer, going as fast as 100 mph, and crashed into Reed's Machine Shop when he missed a sharp turn onto Route 88.
Officers said the crash was so intense that they were completely shocked when Lane climbed out of his car unharmed. He even drove through a street sign and dragged it with his car, eventually impaling one of the Welch's trucks with it.
They said they were also surprised to find out that he was not under the influence, given how to erratically he was driving.
The Welch family, which owns the auto body shop, is trying to figure out what to do about the damage.
“My reaction was I was just kind of shocked,” said business owner Teri Welch, who also owned the three damaged cars. “It's like ‘now what?’ We just don't know what we are going to do.”
“It's a horrible situation for [the Welch family],” said Cumberland police chief Charles Rumsey. “They did nothing wrong. They were home sleeping in their beds at night and awoke to find out that three of their vehicles had been potentially destroyed and that their building was damaged.”
Lane is out on bail already, and will be making his first court appearance next month.