Woman Drives Wrong Way on I-95, Slams into Police Cruiser

Maine State Police have arrested a 22-year-old woman on numerous charges after a high speed chase on Interstate 95 near Orono overnight.

The Orono Regional Communications Center received a 9-1-1 call shortly before midnight, saying a vehicle had struck a pole on Mill Street in Orono and drove away.

According to State Police Lt. Wesley Hussey, dispatchers then received three calls reporting a vehicle traveling north in the southbound lane of the Interstate that matched the description of the vehicle from the Orono crash.

Trooper Christopher Hashey met the vehicle and attempted to pull it over, but the driver would not stop.

Hashey was able to get ahead of the vehicle and set up a roadblock with his patrol car and a tire deflating device on the southbound lane in Old Town.

The driver failed to stop, however, and hit the patrol vehicle broad side.  Trooper Hashey was outside his vehicle at the time and was unharmed.  He was able to remove the driver from her car. The cruiser, meanwhile, caught fire under the hood and Hashey used a fire extinguisher to put out the blaze.

22-year-old McKenzie Kaphammer of Corinth was taken by ambulance to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, where she was treated early Friday morning.  Upon her release from the hospital, Kaphammer was arrested and transported to the Penobscot County Jail.

State police say she is charged with operating under the influence of alcohol, aggravated criminal mischief, reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon and passing a roadblock.

The Orono Police Department also charged Kaphammer with leaving the scene of a property damage accident and operating the wrong way on a one way road.

Both vehicles are a total loss.