PARIS — A Woodstock man who police said crashed into several vehicles, including one that left a woman in critical condition, has been charged with a dozen crimes.

Ethan Rioux-Poulios shown after he was arrested following a police chase and crash earlier in March. Submitted photo

An Oxford County grand jury indicted Ethan J. Rioux-Poulios, 26, on Friday on three felony charges of aggravated assault, each punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

He was charged with six felony charges, each of which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, including eluding an officer, driving to endanger, leaving the scene of an accident involving serious bodily injury or death and three counts of reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon.

Rioux-Poulios also is facing three misdemeanor charges of driving to endanger.

He is being held without bail pending a hearing on a charge of probation revocation. Should he be allowed release from Oxford County Jail, a judge set cash bail at $75,000 on the new charges.

Rioux-Poulios was convicted of manslaughter in a 2019 fatal crash.

In that incident, the car he had been driving slammed into the back of a vehicle on state Route 26 in West Paris while fleeing from an Oxford County Sheriff’s Office deputy. The collision killed the driver, 70-year-old John Pikiell of Norway, whose vehicle was propelled into a tree.

Rioux-Poulios fled from the scene and was later located at a home in South Paris.

He was sentenced in July 2021 to seven years in prison, with all of that time — except two years — suspended. His Maine driver’s license was supposed to be suspended indefinitely by the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

Authorities said Nicole Kumiega, 28, of Portland was driving a Ford Escape on the evening of March 4 when it was struck on Oxford Street in Paris by Rioux-Poulios, who was driving a pickup truck.

Kumiega was first taken to Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway, then flown by a LifeFlight of Maine to Maine Medical Center in Portland, where she was listed in critical condition.

A passenger in the Ford Escape was taken to Stephens Memorial Hospital, treated and released.

The chase began about 5:10 p.m. March 4 when the Oxford Police Department received a report of a Ford F-150 pickup truck being driven erratically on Mechanic Falls Road, which is Route 121, in Oxford.

Oxford police attempted to catch up with the truck, which was reported by witnesses to be striking other vehicles on Route 26 in Oxford while passing them headed north.

The driver turned onto Oxford Street and continued to pass unsafely then lost control of the truck and slammed into the Ford Escape, causing it to go off the road and into trees, authorities said.

Witnesses reported the driver of the truck, later identified as Rioux-Poulios, escaped from his burning truck with a gash on his head and ran into nearby woods behind a school. Police received reports that he then stole a vehicle and was headed back toward Norway.

State troopers located the stolen vehicle, which sped off with state troopers following.

The police pursuit continued from Oxford to Otisfield, then Norway, where troopers tried unsuccessfully to use spike mats to disable the vehicle.

During the pursuit, the driver was reported to have gained speeds of up to 75 mph and was said to be passing long lines of cars in an attempt to elude police. The pursuit returned to Oxford roads and south on Route 26 with Maine State Police, Oxford County Sheriff’s Office, Norway, Paris and Oxford police departments all involved.

A state trooper was able to nudge the stolen vehicle off Route 121 near the intersection with Allen Hill Road in Oxford where Rioux-Poulios was taken into custody.