ROCKLAND — Three people who were arrested by the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency in Warren and Waldoboro April 4 following a crack cocaine investigation in Knox and Lincoln counties all remain in jail.

Arrested were Derrick Presha, 38, of Buffalo, New York; Chamara Cox, 31, of Rochester, New York; and Kenneth Judkins, 32, of Waldoboro.

Presha and Cox were charged with three counts of aggravated trafficking in Schedule W Drugs (crack cocaine). Cox was also charged April 6 with reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon, assault with a dangerous weapon, eluding an officer, driving to endanger and falsifying physical evidence.

Kenneth Judkins, 32, of Waldoboro, was charged with violation of conditions of release and refusing to submit to arrest.

All three made their initial court appearances before Justice Daniel Billings in Knox County Unified Court April 6.

Bail was set at $50,000 cash for Presha and Cox. No bail was set for Judkins as he violated his bail for a prior drug trafficking offense in Lincoln County.

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 Department of Public Safety.

According to the affidavit filed in court by the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, agents conducted a controlled buy at a motel in Thomaston, with Presha making the drug sale to a confidential police informant.

Police then saw Presha and Cox, who was driving the car, leave the motel together and get into a rental car. They followed them to a convenience store parking lot in Warren in the afternoon of April 4 where Presha was allegedly selling crack cocaine to Judkins.

Police had already indentified Judkins standing next to the white rental car and knew that he was currently on bail conditions for unlawful trafficking of scheduled drugs.

All three were then confronted by police and ordered not to move so they could be placed under arrest.

As agents took the two men into custody, other agents attempted to arrest Cox, who refused to get out of the car and sped off with Knox County deputies and Waldoboro Police chasing the vehicle, according to the affidavit.

As Cox was driving away, the front passenger side of the car she was driving struck MDEA Special Agent Max King.

King was not injured by the vehicle.

During the chase, 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 and were found along the side of the road. 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.

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

Drug agents, assisted by Thomaston Police and Knox deputies, then searched the two motel rooms in Thomaston rented to Presha and Cox who consented to the search. 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. 

According to the affidavit, Presha acknowledged to police that he had a prior felony and had drugs hidden in his pants. He was taken to the Knox County Sheriff’s Office where he turned over two bags of crack cocaine, which were counted as 29 individual bags.

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.

They will appear in court again for a dispositional conference May 17.

Reach Sarah Shepherd at news@penbaypilot.com