CASCO – Last Saturday night was supposed to be one of celebration, marking Rosewood Street resident Nick Sparrow’s recent move to Casco. Instead, it ended in tragedy for two passengers who died after Sparrow sped away from police on the twisty back roads of Casco.

Sparrow and seven friends spent Saturday evening partying at his new trailer on Rosewood Street, located off Leech Hill Road. After running out of alcohol, the 20-year-old Sparrow drove with two of the party’s attendees to the nearest convenience store, the Big Apple on Route 302 in Naples, to stock up on more alcohol.

Since state law bans the sale of alcohol after 1 a.m., Sparrow, 29-year-old Thomas St. Saviour of Hiram, and Michael Daye, a 14-year-old friend of Sparrow’s, started back to Sparrow’s home empty-handed.

“They were denied purchase of alcohol, and we have video from the Big Apple showing them pulling in and showing them immediately pulling out,” said Chief Deputy Kevin Joyce of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office.

Joyce said Sparrow was seen accelerating quickly out of the Big Apple up Route 11 past Deputy Andrew Feeney, who was parked at the American Legion Hall on Route 11. At that point, Sparrow was driving without his headlights on at a rate of speed, according to Joyce.

Upon seeing Feeney’s blue lights, Sparrow turned his headlights on and then began pulling off the road near the Edes Falls Road intersection with Route 11, Joyce said. However, instead of stopping, Sparrow pulled back onto Route 11 and sped away from Feeney at an estimated 80-plus mph.

Joyce said Feeney was traveling 80 mph and that “Sparrow was pulling away from him.”

The department’s chase policy allows deputies to follow drivers suspected of drunk driving.

Feeney pursued Sparrow for about a mile and a half but continued to lose ground on the speeding Sparrow, eventually losing sight of his red taillights as the roadway crested hills and rounded corners, Joyce said.

Upon reaching the intersection of Quaker Ridge Road, Feeney told dispatch he would double back to check driveways or fire lanes where Sparrow could have slipped off the road in an effort to elude the deputy. Instead, as Feeney double-backed to the flat straightaway near Hancock Lumber’s Ryefield saw mill, he noticed the white 1993 Infiniti near the edge of the woods.

The vehicle was “upside down and into a fairly large pine tree,” Joyce said, describing the scene as filled with contents of the vehicle, including women’s clothes and baby diapers, strewn about as a result of the impact.

Sparrow, who was driving his mother’s Infiniti with a suspended license and was on probation for prior burglary charges, survived the impact and is listed in fair condition at Central Maine Medical Center. Joyce said Sparrow’s injuries are not life-threatening. Joyce, who said speed and alcohol were “obvious factors” in the accident, expects results from Sparrow’s blood alcohol test in a few weeks.

Sparrow’s two passengers were found dead at the scene. St. Saviour, of Amy Circle in Hiram, was found dead still belted into the front passenger seat. The 14-year-old Daye was ejected from the vehicle and found dead nearby. Sparrow was found partly outside the vehicle upon the deputy’s arrival.

When asked about the relationship between the three young men, Joyce said Daye was attending the party with his 17-year-old brother.

“All indications are he was with his 17-year-old brother,” Joyce said. “The 17-year-old and 14-year-old are really good friends with Sparrow. And it was not uncommon for him (Daye) to be hanging out with these two. They were really good friends.”

The investigation into the matter continues, and charges are pending, Joyce said.

“We are working with the district attorney’s office to determine the appropriate charges on the operator,” Joyce said, adding that the sheriff’s office will also be pursuing charges relating to underage drinking.

“Two of the people in that vehicle were underage, yet they were going to buy alcohol. Clearly, that’s an interest of ours to find out how many people were at the party and whether there was underage drinking going on,” Joyce said.

Joyce said party attendees visited the scene of the accident while detectives were investigating, “and that’s how we learned about the party,” Joyce said.

The area where the two young men died has been the scene of several fatal accidents in the past, Joyce said.

“In this particular half-mile stretch of Route 11, there have been nine people killed as the result of traffic accidents, one of which was about 10 years ago, five people were killed in one accident, coincidentally enough directly across from where this occurred,” Joyce said. “It’s not necessarily a dangerous road per se, it’s just unfortunately the danger of people traveling at a high rate of speed has been the causation factor in a lot of these deaths.”