HOULTON, Maine — A frantic 9-1-1 call to the Houlton Police Department from a subject saying he was being kidnapped Monday morning turned out to be bogus, according to police.
Capt. Dan Pelletier of the Houlton Police said Monday that the local police department received a phone call from the subject and also from a witness at the Irving Big Stop in Houlton shortly before 8 a.m. Monday.
The individual claimed he was being kidnapped by the driver of a tractor trailer, but that proved not to be the case, Pelletier said. The two individuals had been in the area for several days as part of a program on training individuals to drive a tractor trailer unit. The rig hailed from Connecticut.
“It turned out to be a civil matter between the two individuals who had been working together for about a month,” Pelletier said.
The two individuals, whose names were not released by police, had been arguing since Friday about their working relationship when it reached a climax at the Houlton truck stop. The individuals had just come from Easton, where they picked up a load of goods, and the trainer decided he could not longer work with the trainee, the captain said.
“Normally, they would have shared the driving, but since they stopped that arrangement, the driver had to have a layover (to rest), which happened to be at the Irving Big Stop,” he said. “The driver of the truck was trying to get some rest, but the trainee wouldn’t let him sleep.
The truck driver was getting ready to head south on Interstate-95 when the passenger started claiming he was being kidnapped, police said. In the confusion, the driver wound up turning right out of the truck stop and headed north toward Littleton, where he was stopped by police.
No charges were filed in the case.
