WARREN-WALDOBORO — The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency said April 5 that three people were arrested Wednesday, April 4, following a crack cocaine investigation in Knox and Lincoln counties. The arrests took place in Warren and Waldoboro.

Arrested were Derrick Presha, 38, of Buffalo, New York, for Aggravated Trafficking in Schedule W Drugs (Crack Cocaine); Chamara Cox, 31, of Rochester, New York, for Aggravated Trafficking in Schedule W Drugs (Crack Cocaine); and Kenneth Judkins, 32, of Waldoboro for Violation of Conditions of Release and Refusing to Submit to Arrest.

For the past two weeks, agents from the MDEA Midcoast District Task Force have been investigating the distribution of crack cocaine and heroin in the Midcoast by a group from New York, according to a news release from the Maine Dept. of Public Safety.

According to police, agents arrested Presha and Judkins as Presha was allegedly selling crack cocaine to Judkins in a Route 1 parking lot in Warren in the afternoon of April 4.

As agents took the two men into custody, other agents attempted to arrest Chamara Cox, who had driven Presha to the location in her rental car.

Cox refused to get out of the car and sped off with Knox County deputies and Waldoboro Police chasing the vehicle, according to the release.

The pursuit continued until Cox’s vehicle was stopped near Moody's Diner in Waldoboro, and Cox was taken into custody.

Along the way, officers observed Cox allegedly tossing small bags of crack cocaine along Route 1 as she fled.

Waldoboro Police, aided by a Lincoln County drug sniffing dog, located the four bags of crack that were thrown out of Cox's car., the release said. An additional four bags of crack were seized from inside the vehicle along with three New York driver's licenses bearing similar photos to Cox, police said.

Drug agents, assisted by Thomaston Police and Knox deputies, then searched the two motel rooms in Thomaston rented to Presha and Cox. They seized 50 grams of bulk crack cocaine, 25 individual doses of crack cocaine, six grams of suspected heroin and $3,000 in suspected drug proceeds.

The street value of the seized drugs is $10,000, according to the statement. 

The trio was transported to the Knox County Jail where bail was set at $50,000 each for Presha and Cox. No bail was set for Judkins as he violated his bail for a prior drug trafficking offense in Lincoln County.