# Stolen Gun, Car Seized After Maine Chase



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

*GINA CARBONE*
_Portsmouth Herald_

YORK, Maine - Two teens in possession of a stolen, loaded handgun and driving a stolen car were arrested Sunday after a foot chase in York, police said.

It started about 12:30 p.m., when the pickup truck going through York Village piqued York Police Officer John Lizanecz's curiosity.

According to Sgt. Gary Finley, the Ford Ranger carrying a 15-year-old female and male was stopped in the middle of the road, not yielding to the officer.

Lizanecz ran a check on the Maryland plates, which came back as stolen.

He followed the truck north on Route 1 and was asking for a second police unit to assist him with the stop when the truck pulled into Mr. Mike's parking lot, police said.

York police prepare to transport a suspect who allegedly led them on a foot chase ending on Spur Road near Interstate 95 in York.

Lizanecz performed a felony stop in the parking lot and ordered the male driver to get out of the truck and onto the ground. Finley said the driver instead took off - throwing his keys on the ground and jumping over the 6-foot fence behind Mr. Mike's.

Lizanecz called in the description of the driver to dispatch so others could follow the suspect while he stayed with the girl in the truck.

Finley spotted the suspect in between Hilltop Drive and Route 1.

"He saw me and ran across Route 1," Finley said. "There's a cow pasture there and he started running toward Plaisted Road."

Another officer entered the cow field and they ended up running toward the spur road, where the suspect was apprehended.

When Lizanecz checked the stolen truck, he found a loaded, stolen .32-caliber handgun under the front seat, police said.

Both juveniles were wanted out of Maryland and are being held at the Maine Youth Center.

Assisting with the arrest were members of the York Police Department, York Fire Department, N.H. State Police Sgt. Scott Sweet and York Police Department's Animal Control Officer Larry McAfee.

Finley credits the dispatches, and especially Lizanecz, for bringing in the suspects.

"He's the man," Finley said. "He's the hero."


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