Wrong-way driver on I-95 arrested in Aroostook County

3 weeks ago

A driver headed the wrong way on Interstate 95 caused a state trooper to drive off the road before being stopped and arrested.

The incident happened at about midnight Monday. Police were alerted to a car traveling north in the southbound lane at mile marker 266, Maine State Police said in a news release.

A Maine State Police trooper tried to intercept the 2019 Honda Accord at mile marker 281 with his lights and siren on, but the vehicle did not stop and the trooper swerved to avoid a head-on collision, according to police.

The trooper used a crossover lane on the interstate and intercepted the wrong-way driver again at mile marker 286 in Oakfield, this time running into the passenger side of the car with his cruiser as it passed him, which caused the driver to stop, police said.  

The trooper arrested the driver, James Burch, 75, of Freeport, brought him to the Aroostook County Jail in Houlton and charged him with criminal OUI, aggravated driving to endanger, and passing a roadblock.