HOULTON, Maine — A 21-year-old Houlton man was summonsed for filing a false public alarm or report after several months of investigating a case of assault.
On Sept 21, 2014, the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a local man being seriously injured in an assault that had allegedly occurred in Hodgdon. Deputies learned that 21-year-old James Grant of Houlton was hospitalized after sustaining second and third degree burns.
Grant reported to Houlton police that he was on his way home when he noticed a SUV in a field off the White Settlement Road in Hodgdon. Grant said that the vehicle was smoking, so he pulled up to make sure everyone was all right. As he did, Grant claimed someone in the vehicle threw a bottle into his vehicle, it exploded, and he caught on fire.
During the course of a lengthy investigation Grant identified a suspect from a group of photographs. Grant said the man he identified was a passenger in the vehicle, although he wasn’t sure if the suspect or the driver threw the bottle.
According to Sheriff Darrell Crandall, the suspect, who was currently in jail on unrelated charges, adamantly denied having any involvement. The inmate was given a polygraph examination, which indicated he was being truthful.
Grant recently admitted he was alone at the time of the September incident and that he accidentally caused the fire while handling materials used to make methamphetamine.
“Any physical evidence to support a drug offense was either intentionally destroyed or lost in the fire,” Crandall said.
Grant was summonsed for filing a false public alarm or report, a Class D misdemeanor. Additional charges may follow. Grant will appear in Houlton District Court on May 19, 2015.
Deputy Sheriff Vance Palmer did the initial inquiry and Sergeant Erica Pelletier handled the follow-up investigation.
“We ultimately got to the truth,” Crandall said. “However, it turns out this was an unnecessary waste of time and resources. Our deputies spent many hours over the last several months following leads on something that could have been very serious. While we may have suspected things were not adding up, we had no choice but to chase it to ground and be sure.”
