LEWISTON — The state’s top lawyer on Tuesday cleared an Androscoggin County Sheriff’s deputy and a local police officer who wounded a man following a high-speed car chase during which an officer was run down.

The Maine Attorney General’s Office released a statement after concluding an investigation into the shooting of

, 43, of Portland.

“It was reasonable for both officers to believe that unlawful deadly force was imminently threatened against them, as well as other officers,” Attorney General William Schneider wrote. “And it was reasonable for both officers to believe that it was necessary for them to use deadly force to protect themselves and other officers from the imminent threat of deadly force posed by Mr. Corey’s actions.”

By law, Schneider’s office investigates all uses of deadly force by Maine law enforcement officers on the job.

Schneider said he reached his conclusion only after extensive investigation of the scene, interviews with witnesses and analysis of evidence.

Corey was shot in the shoulder by Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Deputy Travis Lovering and Lewiston Police Officer Nicholas Meserve shortly before his arrest the morning of Nov. 8 following a lengthy high-speed car chase through the Twin Cities in a stolen car.

Corey and Richard Thorpe, 30, of Norway were charged in connection with the chase.

A Lewiston police officer who initially spotted and chased the stolen Ford Focus approached the vehicle in his police cruiser. Thorpe put the car in reverse and rammed the cruiser.

Thorpe, who had been driving the car during the chase, fled on foot behind the Chestnut Street parking garage to Lincoln Street where he was nabbed by officers. Corey got into the driver’s seat and started to ram another police vehicle at the scene in an effort to escape.

Officers ordered Corey to stop the car, but he refused. He drove the car into Meserve, knocking him to the ground. Meserve and Lovering fired several shots at Corey. Corey sped forward and the car lodged in a fence.

Corey was later taken to Central Maine Medical Center, where he was treated for his injuries. Meserve was treated at the hospital for leg injuries.

Both men have lengthy criminal records. Corey has previously been convicted of 11 felonies, including two for reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon, and two for eluding an officer, and more than 15 misdemeanors.

Corey is awaiting trial on four charges related to the chase, including felony aggravated assault and assault on an officer. He is being held at Somerset County Jail following his transfer from Androscoggin County Jail, where officials said they found evidence of a planned escape.

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