Yarmouth Police last week arrested a transgender-identifying man, Deserai Collins, 33, after he allegedly stole a van in Portland, led law enforcement on a multi-town chase, and crashed into two police cruisers, injuring two officers.
Yarmouth police officers eventually spotted the van driving north on Route 1. They attempted to stop the vehicle, but Collins allegedly refused to comply with the traffic stop instruction and instead escaped by driving the wrong way down a highway on-ramp. Collins then allegedly stopped the van, and police attempted to arrest him again. According to the Yarmouth Police Department, Collins then intentionally slammed the van into the back of a police cruiser, almost hitting an officer.
He allegedly traveled through Freeport into Portland with police in pursuit and, once in Portland, drove into a second Yarmouth police cruiser. The driver eventually stopped the van on railroad tracks behind 58 Fore St. According to police, two officers were injured during the arrest, with one injury requiring hospitalization, though the officer has since been released.
An employee of the bike shop claimed that the keys to the van had been stolen three months earlier during a break-in and suggested that the driver of the stolen vehicle and the person who originally broke into the shop could have been the same person.
Collins faces numerous charges , including reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon, theft by unauthorized use of property, and refusing to submit to arrest.
