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Mark A. Sousa

Age : 44

Gender : Male

Race : White

Date : 06/05/2021

Location : Intersection of Bartlett Road and Wings Mills Road

City : Mount Vernon

County : Kennebec

State : Maine

Agency : Kennebec County Sheriff's Office, Mount Vernon Police Department

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Driver killed by police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

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REASON FOR CHASE: At approximately 9:30 p.m., Kennebec County sheriff’s deputies learned that Mark Sousa, who earlier that evening had fled an attempted traffic stop while riding a motorcycle at more than 100 mph, had been seen driving his Volkswagen Jetta on Burns Road in Augusta. A sheriff’s deputy and an Augusta police officer attempted to stop the Jetta. Sousa accelerated away with the vehicle’s lights off.
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NARRATIVE:
On 06/05/2021, at approximately 6:22 p.m., a Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office deputy observed a motorcycle traveling east on U.S. Route 202 in Manchester at an estimated speed exceeding 100 mph. The deputy attempted to stop the motorcycle but did not pursue because of its speed. A short time later, police found the motorcycle abandoned near the Augusta-Manchester line and saw a man running into the woods.
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Police identified the motorcycle’s registered owner. The owner told investigators he was in the process of selling the motorcycle to Mark Sousa, 44, of Augusta. Officers began looking for Sousa.
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At approximately 9:30 p.m., deputies received information that Sousa had been seen driving his Volkswagen Jetta on Burns Road in Augusta. A Kennebec County sheriff’s deputy and an Augusta police officer attempted to stop the Jetta. Sousa accelerated away with the vehicle’s headlights off and traveled north on Prescott Road. Police decided not to pursue because of Sousa’s reckless driving.
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Law enforcement continued attempting to locate the Jetta using reports from witnesses who saw a speeding vehicle. Near Bartlett Road and Wings Mills Road in Mount Vernon, officers found evidence that a vehicle had left the roadway at approximately the same time dispatchers began receiving reports of a crash in that area.
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Police located Sousa’s Volkswagen in the woods with no one inside. During a search of the surrounding area, officers found Sousa lying in a field after he had been thrown from the vehicle during the crash. Rescue personnel determined that he had died at the scene.
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The fatal crash followed two separate attempted police stops on the same evening. Deputies declined to pursue Sousa after the first attempted stop because the motorcycle was traveling at more than 100 mph, and police again declined to pursue after the second attempted stop because of the Jetta’s reckless driving.
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TOTAL FATALITIES/INJURIES: 1 fatality

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.centralmaine.com/2021/06/06/augusta-man-killed-in-crash-in-mount-vernon-following-two-speeding-incidents/
https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/crime/one-person-dead-after-two-related-police-pursuits-near-the-manchester-augusta-maine-town-line/97-c0103d92-05cb-44fe-896b-36130094edeb
https://www.wmtw.com/article/augusta-man-dies-after-high-speed-pursuit-and-crash-into-woods/36640898