Staff Writer

An Old Orchard Beach man who pleaded guilty to stealing an automated teller machine from a Scarborough store will spend the next two years in prison.

Brian Andrews, 32, was sentenced April 12 in Cumberland County Superior Court in Portland to a term that also includes a four-year suspended sentence.

Andrews agreed to plead guilty to two counts of theft and one count each of burglary and aggravated criminal mischief. Two additional counts of aggravated criminal mischief and one count each of criminal mischief, eluding an officer and failure to submit to arrest were dismissed in exchange for his plea. Andrews also must serve three years of probation.

The guilty pleas stem from a Nov. 29 incident when Andrews used a stolen Ford F-250 pickup truck to pull the ATM from Eight Corners Market on Mussey Road in Scarborough just before 11 p.m.

Police statements say Andrews tied a chain to the ATM and pulled it through the front door before loading it into the truck, which had been stolen from an Auburn dealership.

A witness saw the ATM loaded in the pickup truck as Andrews drove away. Police then stopped Andrews near the Scarborough Public Library. As an officer approached the truck, Andrews put it into reverse gear and rammed the cruiser before driving off.

Statements by Scarborough police officers show Andrews crossed Route 1 and continued on Black Point Road at speeds approaching 100 mph before he crashed into a guardrail near Prout’s Neck Yacht Club.

Police found him partially submerged as he tried to hide in rocks along the shoreline.

Along with the sentence and probation, Andrews must also make $1,000 restitution to Eight Corners Market owner Peter Walsh, $1,000 to the town of Scarborough and $9,650 to Rowe of Auburn.

Staff writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 219