MECHANIC FALLS — A 39-year-old South Paris man was arrested Thursday after allegedly stealing a truck from Lee Auto and leading police on a chase through multiple counties before crashing the vehicle and attempting to flee on foot.
The Norway Police Department was notified at approximately 4:45 p.m. on April 10 that a male suspect had taken a truck from the Lee Auto lot and driven away at high speed southbound on Route 26 toward Oxford.
Officers from Norway Police Department, Oxford Police Department and Oxford County Sheriff’s Office began searching for the vehicle after a “be on lookout” alert was issued.
An Oxford County Sheriff’s Office administrator spotted the vehicle heading south in Oxford and alerted authorities, prompting notifications to neighboring Androscoggin and Cumberland Counties.
The stolen truck was found crashed on Johnson Hill Road in Poland at approximately 5:05 p.m., with the driver having fled the scene.
Law enforcement from multiple agencies, including Norway, Oxford, and Mechanic Falls Police Departments, along with deputies from Oxford, Androscoggin and Cumberland Counties and Maine Warden Service officers, converged on the area to search for the suspect.
By 5:30 p.m., K9 teams from Oxford and Cumberland County Sheriff’s Offices and a UAV team from Norway Police Department were deployed in the search effort.
Video footage from Lee Auto showed the suspect as a male with facial hair wearing blue jeans, a light-colored sweatshirt and a light brown beanie-style hat.
At approximately 6 p.m., officers detained Grover Harmon of South Paris after spotting him acting suspiciously in a nearby yard, attempting to hide by a boat.
Harmon, who was wearing clothes matching the description from the theft video, was arrested for vehicle theft and booked on two outstanding warrants, with additional charges likely pending.
