Witness helps authorities rescue woman
ASHLAND, Maine — Authorities rescued a woman last week after a good Samaritan witnessed her being held against her will in a moving vehicle and tried to intervene, according to Sheriff Darrell Crandall.
James Campbell, 47, of Easton was charged with criminal restraint and domestic assault after his arrest in Ashland on Aug. 18, 2015, Crandall said.
According to Crandall, the witness, who is not being identified, saw Campbell holding a woman by her hair in his vehicle as he drove with the car door open on State Road in Mapleton around 1 p.m.
The witness attempted to intervene and rescue the woman, but was unsuccessful and called 9-1-1, providing a detailed description of the vehicle and its occupants, Crandall said.
Crandall said all area law enforcement agencies were notified and sheriff’s deputies coordinated a detailed search of the area.
At 3 p.m., agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection contacted the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office reporting they had the vehicle in question and its occupants detained at the intersection of State Road and Route 11 in Ashland.
Within minutes they were joined by sheriff’s deputies and members of the Ashland Police Department, Crandall said.
The woman, whose identity was not released, was not seriously injured, Crandall said.
Campbell, who has a prior domestic assault conviction from 2004, was arrested without incident and charged with domestic assault and kidnapping.
He was taken to the Aroostook County Jail and made his first court appearance Aug. 19 where the Aroostook County district attorney’s office amended the kidnapping charge to criminal restraint and bail was set at $3,000 cash or $50,000 surety.
Crandall praised the witness who attempted to rescue the victim.
“While I do not generally encourage people to recklessly interject themselves into crimes of violence, I commend the efforts of the caller to try to rescue the woman from the vehicle,” he said, adding anyone with any information on this crime or may have witnessed anything to call the sheriff’s office at 800-432-7842.
