Police Say a Stolen Car With Seven Teens Inside Ended Up in Maine’s Sabattus Pond, and the 16-Year-Old Driver Is Charged With Kidnapping

Sabattus police say a car reported stolen from Auburn went into Sabattus Pond in Maine early on Oct. 18 with seven juveniles inside, and on Oct. 30 the department charged the 16-year-old it says was driving with kidnapping. Chief Wayne Drake’s Facebook post, as reported by the Sun Journal, lists three more charges: reckless conduct, driving to endanger and operating without a license. Police have not released the driver’s name because he is a minor, and no injuries were reported in the Sabattus Pond crash.

What police and local reports say happened

Calls came in early that Sunday about a car being driven recklessly without its lights on, the Sun Journal reported. WABI reported that officers saw the driver run a red light, lose control and drive into the pond, and WGME put the red light at Pleasant Hill Road and Route 126. Police said the car held seven juveniles, the youngest 13. Two ran into the woods and were later found by a K9, while the other five stayed and cooperated, WABI reported.

The kidnapping charge rests on what the passengers told investigators. Drake said four of the seven were girls and that several of them said they were “begging the driver to stop and let them out” once they understood their situation, according to the Sun Journal. He said the driver then locked the doors and kept going. Those are police accounts of what passengers said. The reports Backfire News found include no court filing, affidavit or statement from the driver or a lawyer for him, and every charge here is an accusation.

How a car ride becomes a Class A charge

Maine’s kidnapping law, Title 17-A, section 301, does not require a ransom or an abduction across town. One route to the charge needs a specific purpose, such as using someone as a hostage or facilitating another crime. The other needs only that a person knowingly restrain someone under circumstances that in fact expose that person to a risk of serious bodily injury. The statute defines restraining as substantially restricting someone’s movements without consent, including by confining them for a substantial period. The reports don’t say which paragraph the department cited. Drake’s description, passengers asking to get out of a moving car that ended up in a pond, lines up with the second route.

The classification is what changes the stakes. Kidnapping is a Class A crime, and section 1604 sets the maximum sentence for an adult convicted of one at 30 years. The other reported charges sit far lower: reckless conduct is a Class D crime, which carries less than a year, and driving to endanger is Class E. Operating without a license is also a Class E crime under Title 29-A, section 1251, and the statute makes it strict liability, so prosecutors don’t have to show the driver knew he needed a license.

Why a 16-year-old’s case runs through the juvenile system

Under Title 15, section 3103, a juvenile crime is conduct that would be a crime if an adult did it, so the adult definitions above carry over. A police charge does not go straight to a courtroom. Under section 3301, a juvenile community corrections officer investigates first and can close the matter, set up an informal adjustment of up to six months that may include restitution or community service, or ask the prosecutor to file a petition. After the officer’s initial decision, the prosecutor has 30 days to report a final one.

A Class A allegation also opens another door. Section 3101(4) lets a prosecutor ask for a bind-over hearing when a petition alleges conduct that would be murder or a Class A, B or C crime if committed by an adult. The court weighs the seriousness of the offense, the juvenile’s characteristics, public safety and the available dispositional alternatives, and it must bind the juvenile over for adult prosecution if it finds probable cause and the burden of proof on appropriateness is met. Nothing public says the state has asked for that here, or that a petition has been filed.

The stolen car and the six passengers

The car is the part of the case with the least public detail. Police said it was reported stolen from Auburn. They haven’t said how it was taken, and the charges reported against the driver include no theft or unauthorized-use count. Maine’s unauthorized use statute, section 360, reaches beyond the person who takes a car. A person is guilty of theft if, knowing the owner hasn’t consented, they take, operate or control a vehicle, or if, knowing a vehicle was wrongfully obtained, they ride in it. It is a Class D crime, and the statute includes a defense for someone who reasonably believed the owner would have consented.

The riding clause turns on what each passenger knew, and nothing public addresses that. The chief’s account describes several passengers trying to get out, and the Sun Journal’s Oct. 30 report names no charges against anyone but the driver. WABI reported on Oct. 19 that charges were pending. Backfire News has covered other cases where a stolen car’s trip ended in a crash, including the Baltimore school-zone collision police tied to a stolen Elantra and a Harris County chase in a stolen vehicle that deputies say ended with the vehicle running over its own driver.

What happens next

The next public steps are the intake officer’s decision and, once the prosecutor learns it, a final charging decision within 30 days under section 3301. No court date has been reported, and nothing Backfire News found says whether a petition has been filed or a bind-over hearing requested.

Police say passengers begged to be let out while the doors stayed locked. Does that fit Maine’s kidnapping law, or is the charge a stretch for a 16-year-old?

About the Author

Shawn Henry

Administrator

Shawn Henry has spent years writing about cars, and it shows—not in a resume kind of way, but in how he talks about them. He's the type who'll notice the weird trim option nobody remembers and actually know why it mattered. At Backfire News, he covers pretty much the whole spectrum: off-road trucks and trail builds, performance cars, racing, and the collector market. He's comfortable getting into the technical weeds, but he never forgets that most people read about cars because cars are fun, not because they want a spec sheet. His beat runs from classic and collector vehicles to overlanding culture, modified performance builds, new automotive tech, and the industry news that actually affects what ends up in your driveway. Mostly, though, Shawn thinks the best car stories are about people—the builds they pour money into, the road trips, the communities that form around a shared obsession. That's the stuff he likes writing about, and it's what you'll find in his work here.

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