Editor’s Note: An arrest or summons does not constitute a finding of guilt. An individual charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at criminal proceedings.
The Maine State Police Troop F barracks in Houlton responded to 142 calls for service from Monday, July 25 to Sunday, July 31. The following incidents were among those addressed:
Monday, July 25
– Tpr. Sylvia arrested a Mars Hill man who was reported to be urinating and drinking heavily in a local public park. The man was so intoxicated he had urinated and defecated himself. The subject had been arrested or summoned by troopers in various weeks for the same type of violation, and was on bail conditions not to be using or possessing alcohol. The subject has been the focus of complaints by several residents recently.
– Tpr. Sylvia and K-9 Merry conducted a track in Houlton in regards to a missing person complaint that Houlton Police Department had been working on. The female was not located immediately, but some property was located by Tpr. Sylvia while on the track. On 7/26 the female was located in the area and found to be safe.
Tuesday, July 26
– Utilizing his unmarked cruiser, Cpl. Michaud cited three drivers for distracted driving; two of the motorists were texting while driving. Cpl. Michaud followed the third driver for some time observing his poor operation. The operator would come to a near complete stop in traffic and then speed up again; all while holding his cell phone in front of himself. He then stopped at a stop sign and stayed at the stop sign for an extended period of time while no traffic was forcing him to yield. The operator was still staring at his cell phone. Cpl. Michaud activated his emergency lights, and walked up to the operator’s window. The operator was so distracted that he never saw Cpl. Michaud or his blue lights and started to pull away; all the while still looking at his phone. Cpl. Michaud shouted to the operator who then stopped. He admitted to playing Pokemon Go and it appeared that each time he was stopping in traffic he was collecting game tokens in that location.
– Tpr. Casavant and Tpr. Stoutamyer to a family fight in Mapleton. A female caller reported that she was attempting to leave her boyfriend, but he was not allowing her to leave the residence. While on the way to the home, the male subject called and requested to speak with troopers about not letting his girlfriend return to his home. The female had managed to leave and waited for officers to meet her at a local store. The investigation revealed that no crimes had been committed and both parties simply wanted to part ways. The male subject was highly intoxicated, but was cooperative.
Wednesday, July 27
– Tpr. Saucier investigated a crash on I-95 in Smyrna. A 2006 tractor trailer truck that had been hauling logs caught fire when one of the rear brakes on the tractor became stuck, overheated, and ignited the rear tire of the vehicle. Two of the rear tires were burned as was a portion of the logs.
– Sgt. Clark and Cpl. Quint responded to a tractor trailer rollover on U.S. Highway 1 in Hodgdon. The tractor trailer unit was loaded with wood chips and was headed to Baileyville. The male truck driver was driving too fast to safely negotiate a turn in the road and ended up going off the right side of the road and rolling the truck onto its side. The man was transported to Houlton Regional Hospital due to injuries sustained and later transported by Life Flight to Eastern Maine Medical Center. The crash caused damage to two utility poles and knocked over a large group of trees. The road was closed for several hours while the wreckage was removed and new utility poles placed.
Friday, July 29
– Tpr. Sucy assisted Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department with a family fight in Mount Chase. An adult woman was assaulted by her mother with what was described as a long wooden stick with something black on the end. The two had been arguing and the mother ended up striking the daughter with the weapon. The daughter had visible injuries to her face and arms. The mother was arrested by the deputy and transported to the county jail in Bangor.
– Tpr. Endre was assisting probation office in an attempt to locate and apprehend a male subject who was failing to follow the conditions of his probation. Tr. Endre stopped a vehicle that he believed may contain the male subject. The male subject was found and arrested by probation. The vehicle was also searched and a passenger was summonsed for drug paraphernalia.
– Tpr. Bell investigated the report of a missing 14-year-old male. The young man was supposed to walk to a relative’s house, but hadn’t arrived and it was 1 a.m. Leads, names, and phone numbers were quickly investigated and information obtained led to the discovery of the male at approximately 2:30 a.m. as he was walking in Houlton to his aunt’s house. The male admitted that he was playing Pokemon and lost track of time. The mother and male both thanked the Troopers and Houlton P.D. officers for their efforts. Tr. Endre, Sgt. Fuller, and Houlton P.D. assisted.
– Sgt. Clark and Tpr. Luce responded to a residence in New Sweden after a nurse from Visiting Nurses of Aroostook stated she had not been able to make contact with one of her clients, which she felt was concerning. Trp. Luce called the man on the phone but no one answered. Tpr. Luce went to the man’s residence and when no one answered the door. Sgt. Clark arrived at the residence and it was determined the troopers needed to make entry into the residence. After getting inside the house they discovered the homeowner was in bed and immediately requested to be taken to the hospital. An ambulance was called and the man was transported to Cary Medical Center in Caribou.
Saturday, July 30
– Tpr. Curtin responded to an Eagle Lake residence after a neighbor reported a possible domestic violence dispute between a man and woman in a next door apartment. After speaking with all involved parties, Tpr. Curtin determined that no assault or other crime had been committed. There had been a party going in in the apartment in question and some noise coming from the party appeared to have been mistaken for the issue between the man and woman. He was assisted that scene by Warden Adrien Marquis.
– Tpr. Curtin responded to a Frenchville residence for a 9-1-1 open line call. The dispatcher could hear a woman telling a male subject that he just needed to go to bed. After some computer research, Tpr. Curtin was able to locate an address that matched the phone number the call had come in by. He was familiar with the parties involved and located the residence that the call had originated at. There were no issues at the residence, a female was simply trying to get an intoxicated male subject to go to bed. Tpr. Curtin gave the subject a short ride home and there were no other issues.
– Troopers Bell and Endre assisted the Penobscot County Sherriff’s with a double motorcycle crash on the Grindstone Road in Staceyville. A motorcycle lost control and went off the road and made contact with a telephone pole. Three out of the four individuals involved were transported to the Millinocket hospital. The local fire department, multiple ambulance services, East Millinocket PD, and the Sherriff’s office were on scene as well.
– Tr. Stoutamyer responded to a two-vehicle, head-on crash, on the Jemptland Road in New Sweden. His investigation revealed that 29-year-old Patrick Caron of Fort Kent had been traveling west on Jemptland Rd. while 53-year-old Gerald Kinney of Caribou had been traveling east. At some point, Kinney’s 2002 Dodge truck veered into the oncoming lane of traffic. In an effort to avoid the head-on collision, Caron veered to the left and attempted to stop. Kinney’s vehicle then swerved back into its lane and the two vehicles crashed head on. The impact ripped the front driver’s side wheels off from both vehicles along with other significant damage. Both vehicles had to be towed from the scene. Kinney was transported to Cary Medical Center by Caribou Fire and Ambulance. He was treated for minor injuries and released. Caron and his passenger were not injured in the crash. As a result of the investigation Kinney was summoned to Caribou Court for operating while under the influence of alcohol. Maine Warden Service’s WDN Ryan Fitzpatrick assisted Tr. Stoutamyer at the scene.
Sunday, July 31
– Tr. Pescitelli stopped to assist a motorist in Easton and noticed that the operator was having trouble maintaining his balance while walking and could smell an odor of intoxicating substances coming from the person’s body. Trooper Pescitelli put the operator through field sobriety tests and determined that he was operating under the influence. Trooper Pescitelli arrested the operator for OUI.
