IN AUGUSTA, Sunday at 12:17 p.m., disorderly conduct was reported on Civic Center Drive.

2:08 p.m., a disturbance was reported on Bangor Street.

3:20 p.m., criminal trespass was reported on Sparrow Drive.

3:55 p.m., criminal mischief was reported on Crossing Way.

5:05 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Oxford Street.

7:38 p.m., shoplifting was reported on Civic Center Drive.

9:11 p.m., a domestic disturbance was reported on Lees Court.

11:32 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Whitten Road.

Monday at 6:15 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on Beverly Lane.

IN GARDINER, Friday at 10:32 a.m., theft was reported on Dresden Avenue.

Sunday at 12:29 p.m., a fight was reported at McDonald’s restaurant on Bridge Street.

1:43 p.m., theft was reported on Cannard Street.

IN HALLOWELL, Sunday at 2:40 p.m., disorderly conduct was reported on Densmore Court.

Monday at 1:02 a.m., a disturbance was reported on Water Street.

IN LITCHFIELD, Friday at 11:35 a.m., theft was reported on Nadeau Drive.

Sunday at 10:57 p.m., theft was reported on School Lane.

IN MANCHESTER, Friday at 8:44 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Western Avenue.

IN SIDNEY, Sunday at 4:45 p.m., a caller reported a Dodge pickup stolen on Summerhaven Road.

ARRESTS

IN AUGUSTA, Sunday at 8:34 p.m., Cassidy A. Bridges, 29, of Augusta, was arrested on warrants following a traffic stop at the intersection of Bangor and School streets.

10:14 p.m., Kristin L. White, 47, of Augusta, was arrested on a warrant, on Macomber Avenue.

IN GARDINER, Sunday at 12:07 a.m., Joey Richard Johnson, 39, of Gardiner, was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct, on Brunswick Avenue.

IN LITCHFIELD, Saturday at 6:49 p.m., Zachary Evan Walton, 37, of Litchfield, was arrested on a charge of failure to appear, on Chapman Drive.

IN ANSON, Sunday at 6:59 p.m., court paperwork was served on Embden Pond Road.

IN ATHENS, Sunday at 8:22 p.m., police made an arrest following a complaint on Corson Road.

IN CANAAN, Sunday at 7:45 p.m., trespass was reported on Browns Corner Road.

IN CORNVILLE, Sunday at 12:47 p.m., a complaint was taken from Beckwith Road.

9:23 p.m., vandalism was reported on Ames Road.

IN DETROIT, Sunday at 4:08 p.m., an intoxicated person was reported on Dogtown Road.

IN EMBDEN, Sunday at 6:03 p.m., a harassment complaint was taken from New Portland Road.

IN FAIRFIELD, Sunday at 2:12 a.m., police made an arrest following a report of a disturbance on Kelley Street.

7:15 a.m., police responded to a report of a disturbance on Woodman Avenue.

IN HARTLAND, Sunday at 6:07 p.m., a person was taken to the hospital following a motor vehicle accident on Main Street.

IN JACKMAN, Sunday at 10:02 a.m., a person was taken to a hospital following a report of a snowmobile accident. No location was given.

IN JAY, Monday at 8:03 a.m., a vehicle accident involving an injury was reported at the intersection of Main Street and Riley Road.

IN MADISON, Sunday at 2:46 p.m., a harassment complaint was taken from Edenway Lane.

IN NORRIDGEWOCK, Sunday at 7:56 p.m., a scam complaint was taken from River Road.

IN OAKLAND, Sunday at 6:51 p.m., a disturbance was reported on Pleasant Street.

7:14 p.m., criminal mischief was investigated on Webb Road.

IN OQUOSSOC, Sunday at 10:33 a.m., trespassing was reported on Carry Road.

IN PHILLIPS, Sunday at 9:46 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on Reeds Mill Road.

IN PITTSFIELD, Sunday at 3:24 p.m., a harassment complaint was taken from Detroit Street.

IN RIPLEY, Monday at 8:12 a.m., a violation of bail or of a protection order was reported on Main Street.

IN SKOWHEGAN, Sunday at 11:06 a.m., a harassment complaint was taken from Water Street.

9:17 p.m., police made an arrest following a traffic stop on North Avenue.

11:44 p.m., police made an arrest following a report of an intoxicated person on Madison Avenue.

IN STRATTON, Sunday at 5:29 p.m., a theft was reported on McCutcheon Street.

IN THE FORKS, Sunday at 4:55 p.m., a snowmobile accident was reported on U.S. Route 201.

IN WATERVILLE, Sunday at 10:09 a.m., a theft was reported at Super Shoes on Washington Street.

4:50 p.m., a disturbance was reported at the Walmart parking lot on Waterville Commons Drive.

7:16 p.m., a disturbance was reported on Pleasant Street.

7:29 p.m., a domestic dispute was investigated on College Avenue.

8:42 p.m., a disturbance was investigated on Violette Avenue.

10:56 p.m., a noise complaint was investigated on Union Street.

1:01 a.m., a disturbance was reported at Lombard Apartments on Elm Street.

IN WILTON, Sunday at 1:07 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on Fenderson Hill.

IN WINSLOW, Sunday at 1:15 pm., suspicious activity was investigated on Cushman Road.

2:57 a.m., an unwanted subject was reported on Joe Avenue.

ARRESTS

IN FRANKLIN COUNTY, Sunday at 1:30 a.m., Shena M. Nile, 29, of Anson, was arrested on a charge of operating under the influence.

3:20 a.m., Omer Havtan, 21, of Farmington, was arrested on a charge of violating condition of release.

IN SOMERSET COUNTY, Sunday at 8:05 p.m., Heather Suzanne Haley, 31, of Anson, was arrested on 11 charges including disorderly conduct and violating conditions of release.

10:20 p.m., Roger Michael Vincent Lloyd, 21, of Skowhegan, was arrested on a warrant for failure to appear on a theft charge.

11:31 p.m., Shawn Michael Quimby, 47, of Athens, was arrested on a probation hold.

Monday at 12:48 a.m., Anthony Joseph Kilmer, 36, a transient, was arrested on warrants for failure to appear on forgery and unpaid restitution charges.

IN WATERVILLE, Sunday at 9:47 p.m., Kendra L. Ruland, 28, of Waterville, was arrested on a charge of domestic violence assault, with priors.

11:28 p.m., Fred L. Brackett, 44, of Waterville, was arrested on a charge of being a fugitive from justice.

ALFRED — Customers who lost money when they prepaid an oil dealer for fuel they never received will have to make do with restitution of 60 cents on the dollar following a court settlement Monday.

Nicholas Curro operated three heating oil companies in York County that sold prepaid oil plans in 2007 but never delivered the fuel to customers. Curro was found guilty of violating the state’s unfair trading practices law in 2009 and the state identified 313 customers who were owed money. A year later, officials worked out a deal that called for Curro to pay $394,000 in restitution, plus a fine of $250,000 that would be cut to $25,000 if he paid the restitution within five years.

But Curro only paid $10,500 and the matter has been tied up in court ever since.

“All of us people, we have no power or say in the matter,” Henry Thiffault of Alfred said of the deal, which would return about 60 percent of the $3,000 worth of oil he bought for his house and his son’s that was never put in the tanks.

“I’ll be dead by the time he pays,” grumbled another man as he left the courtroom after the hearing.

Just before a hearing to work out a payment arrangement with Curro in York County Superior Court, state officials said they had a new deal that calls for Curro to pay $2,500 a month until he pays the fine amount of $250,000.

Linda Conti, chief of the consumer protection division of the Maine Attorney General’s Office, said the money will technically be a fine, but the payments will be distributed to customers owed restitution. She said Curro has repeatedly threatened to file for bankruptcy, and it’s more likely that a bankruptcy court would wipe out the restitution payments than a court-imposed fine.

The amount received will be split on a proportional basis; payments to customers will likely go out once a year, she said.

Jack Gobe, a retired police officer who lives in North Berwick, said he’s not surprised the way the deal worked out. “I never expected we’d get everything,” he said.

Gobe said he paid Curro $1,000 for oil that was never delivered.

“I’m one of the little ones,” he said.

Thiffault said he was disappointed to learn that customers won’t get full restitution and unhappy that the lawyers for the state and Curro worked out a deal without consulting with the customers who lost money.

Conti agreed that the deal wasn’t great compared to what Curro was supposed to pay in the original settlement worked out in 2010, but said it should ensure those who lost money will at least recover some of it.

Conti said she didn’t know why criminal charges were never filed in the case. She said information her office had was turned over to Biddeford police at the time that her civil case went to trial.

In a filing that led to Monday’s hearing, state officials had planned to ask Superior Court Justice Wayne Douglas to order Curro to make payments of $75,000 a year until he paid both the restitution and fine, but Conti said that Curro made clear he would file for bankruptcy rather than pay the restitution.

The filing said that most of the assets of Curro and his wife, Lisa Curro, are in Lisa Curro’s name, including the house where they live. Another house they own and rent is in both Nicholas and Lisa Curro’s names, but the state said the mortgage, liens and other encumbrances likely offset any of Nicholas Curro’s equity in that house.

Lisa Curro also has a trust from her late parents and, in December, she received approval from Biddeford to set up a 12-lot subdivision on the trust’s land adjacent to the Saco River.

The filing also said that Lisa Curro, in a loan application to buy a pontoon boat in 2005, said she had assets of more than $3 million, but those assets would be out of reach in the settlement, since none are in Nicholas Curro’s name.

She also owns a tree-cutting service, NPC3, and Nicholas Curro – whose initials make up part of the firm’s name – works for that company. According to state officials, he reported income of more than $100,000 a year from 2013 until 2016, but in 2016, when the state began proceedings to try to force him to pay some of the money he owed, he reported a net operating loss of more than $27,000 and claims to owe least $160,000 in credit card debt and more in state and federal income taxes.

The filing also said that Curro turns over his NPC3 income to his wife and they pay household expenses from it, including a total of nearly $2,250 a month for three leased vehicles, private school tuition for his son and payments on the pontoon boat.

Douglas told Curro that his case will come back quickly to his courtroom if the payments aren’t made.

“This matter will be placed on the top of the court’s docket for action” if payments are missed, Justice Douglas said. “This case has gone on far too long.”

Edward D. Murphy can be contacted at 791-6465 or at:

emurphy@pressherald.com

AUGUSTA — A New York man and an Augusta woman spent the weekend in Kennebec County jail on drug trafficking charges stemming from incidents in Waterville in November 2017.

Jahsun Campbell, 28, and Shantasia N. Bethea-Lucas, 26, were arrested Friday afternoon and held in lieu of $50,000 cash bail that was set with the arrest warrant.

Campbell, of Bronx, New York, is charged with two counts of aggravated trafficking in cocaine base, one on Nov. 1, 2017, and one on Nov. 14, 2017. Police say both drug transactions took place near property designated as a drug-free “safe zone.”

Bethea-Lucas, of Augusta, is charged with two counts of unlawful trafficking in cocaine base, both on Nov. 14, 2017.

They made initial court appearances Monday at the Capital Judicial Center via video link with the jail. At that hearing, Judge Eric Walker ordered bail of $10,000 cash with a Maine Pretrial Services contract for Campbell, the amount requested by Assistant District Attorney Chris Coleman.

According to an affidavit by Waterville Police Officer Daryl Gordon, two other officers using a confidential informant conducted a controlled buy of 0.60 crack cocaine from a man known as “Tory” on Nov. 1, 2017. Gordon said Campbell was later identified as Tory. The transaction allegedly occurred at 18 Summer St., Waterville, and Gordon wrote that Bethea-Lucas, known as “Olivia,” was with him at the time. The affidavit doesn’t specify what “safe zone” property the drug transaction allegedly occurred near.

A similar transaction with a “cooperating defendant” involving 0.50 grams of crack cocaine occurred Nov. 14, 2017, at the same location, Gordon wrote.

Bethea-Lucas is accused of involvement in two separate sales of crack cocaine, one on Kennedy Memorial Drive and the other on Summer Street, both in Waterville. At her hearing, Bethea-Lucas told the judge she uses the last name of Bethea. She was represented by Stephen Bourget, acting as lawyer of the day.

Walker set her bail at $5,000 unsecured, as requested by Coleman, with conditions prohibiting her from use and possession of illegal drugs. Coleman said Bethea had successfully completed a deferred disposition on a 2015 shoplifting charge.

Her next hearing on the new charges is also set for May 17.

On Monday, Coleman requested a condition indicating that Campbell remain in Maine after noting that there was a possible bail hold on Campbell out of New York.

Attorney Lisa Whittier, representing Campbell as lawyer of the day, said she would reserve argument on bail.

Campbell’s next court hearing is set for 2 p.m. May 17, and Walker said bail could be reviewed sooner if Campbell or his attorney requested it.

Betty Adams — 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @betadams

AUGUSTA — A Winthrop man is accused of leading police on a high-speed motor vehicle chase through Monmouth and Winthrop Sunday night, allegedly for the second time in just over two weeks.

Roland Pelletier, 62, told a judge Monday that he had recently started drinking again after a decade of sobriety because he got a medical diagnosis indicating he had five years to live.

Pelletier is charged with eluding an officer, criminal operating under the influence, criminal speed, violation of condition of release and operating without a license.

At his initial court appearance at the Capital Judicial Center via video from the Kennebec County jail, Pelletier shook his head in the negative when Judge Eric Walker read the charge of drunken driving.

“I only had two beers,” Pelletier said.

An affidavit by Monmouth Police Officer Dana Wessling says he was in his cruiser watching traffic on U.S. Route 202 at 5:52 p.m. Sunday when an eastbound vehicle passed him at an estimated 90 mph in a posted 55 mph zone.

Wessling said he attempted to catch up to it.

“The vehicle refused to stop, and with my lights and siren activated, the suspect vehicle reached speeds of over 100 mph, passing vehicles and not stopping at stop signs.” Wessling wrote. “The driver did slow down for intersections and curves.”

The 10-mile chase went into Winthrop and back to Monmouth, ending on a dead-end road where Wessling said he arrested Pelletier.

Wessling said a test later showed Pelletier had a 0.10 blood alcohol level.

Wessing’s affidavit referred to a prior incident, saying Pelletier “was chased by the Monmouth and Winthrop Police Department about three weeks ago under almost exact (same) circumstances.”

Court records show that Pelletier was charged with eluding an officer, motor vehicle speeding more than 30 mph over the limit and driving to endanger. In that case, speeds of 110 miles per hour are alleged. The charges are dated March 1, and Pelletier was released on $400 cash bail on March 2.

On Monday, the prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Christopher Coleman, asked that Pelletier be held without bail on a motion for revocation of bail.

He said Pelletier had a 2015 conviction for eluding an officer and five prior operating under the influence convictions.

Attorney Lisa Whittier, acting as lawyer for the day, said Pelletier’s most recent OUI conviction was from 2004. She asked for $5,000 unsecured bail with conditions.

“Mr. Pelleiter, as far as I know, has a conditional license, which means he can’t drive with any alcohol in his system,” Whittier said. “He has appointments in Boston, Massachusetts, for his medical and psychological problems.”

Pelletier told the judge he was concerned about missing medical appointments if he remained in jail, and that he had “major depression, recurring,” as well as “AFIB (atrial fibrillation), congestive heart failure and chronic bronchitis.”

“You are worrying about your health in the long-term,” Walker said. “I’m more worried about your health in the short-term, and I’m also worried about the safety of anyone else on the road.”

“As a matter of public safety, I agree with the state that your bail should be revoked,” Walker added, setting a March 27 hearing on the probation revocation motion.

Walker set bail on the other case at $5,000 cash, making that reviewable once Pelletier obtains an attorney. Conditions prohibit Pelletier from having drugs and alcohol and from operating a motor vehicle.

Betty Adams — 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @betadams

MADISON — A local farmer has agreed to reopen a portion of a snowmobile trail on his land that he closed last month after one of his pregnant Angus cows was shot and killed, he believes, from the trail.

The cow killer has yet to be identified.

The Abnaki Sno Riders club announced on its Facebook page Feb. 15 that the section of trail it calls Club Trail 27 would be closed for the remainder of the season. That section of trail runs through the farm property of Clayton Tibbetts, who lives with his fiancée, Christine Stevens, and their children, on River Road in Madison.

But as of Saturday, Tibbetts apparently has relented. According to the snowmobile club’s newest social media post, the trail that runs from the intersection of ITS 87 on River Road from Conjockty Road to what it calls the Bunny Trail, off Adams Road, is back open.

“The landowner, Clayton Tibbetts (formerly Thompson’s Farm) on the River Road in Madison has allowed us to open this trail back up,” the group posted Saturday on its Facebook page. Club members thanked Tibbetts in the comment section of the post.

Club secretary Leeann Newton said in messages Monday that game wardens have leads on the shooting, but so far have not identified the people who were responsible for the death of the cow the family’s kids called Fluffy.

“Out of the kindness of their hearts, Mr. Tibbetts and his family decided to reopen the trail because they wanted snowmobilers to continue to enjoy the use of their land for the remainder of the season,” Newton wrote.

The Tibbetts family as well as snowmobile club members were shocked and dismayed at the shooting of the cow.

“They shot her between the eyes,” landowner Clayton Tibbetts said in February from his River Road farm. “It had to have been at close range. We raise beef. We’re just farmers. Got draft horses, cows, do a little logging — agricultural people.”

Tibbetts, 39, said the snowmobile trail is 25 to 30 feet from the field where the cow’s carcass was found. He said he has never had a problem before and still does not know who shot the animal or if it even was someone on a snowmobile. Tibbetts said a taxidermist who he gave the animal to told him the cow had not died giving birth, as Tibbetts initially had thought, but had been shot.

The cow was due to give birth in May. Tibbetts, who raises the cattle for beef, said he didn’t dare to try to salvage the meat. Financially, the loss exceeds $2,000, not including the lost calf and the price to feed the cow.

Tibbetts was on the road Monday and could not be reached by cell phone. A message left for Warden Chad Robertson, who is investigating the report, was not immediately returned Monday.

Meanwhile, about 100 miles to the south, a judge in Cumberland County District Court approved a one-year protection-from-harassment order filed by Smiling Hill Farm in Scarborough against Daniel J. Arnold, 40, in connection with the death of a pregnant goat. Arnold, who is homeless, is barred from setting foot on farm property.

The goat was last seen alive about two days after the Madison incident. Police say the goat was shot by an arrow fired from a crossbow. Arnold has not been charged with killing the goat, but police investigated Arnold in connection with the crime, and a witness reported to investigators seeing Arnold walking out of the woods around the time of the killing, carrying a crossbow, the Portland Press Herald reported.

Although police did not have enough evidence to charge him with the goat’s death, he was arrested for possessing the crossbow. Arnold was on probation from a May 24, 2017, conviction for aggravated assault and criminal threatening, and was not supposed to have any dangerous weapons.

Doug Harlow — 612-2367

dharlow@centralmaine.com

Twitter:@Doug_Harlow

An elderly Portland driver who police say struck a woman with his SUV in the parking lot of a dry cleaning business last December, causing her to lose both legs, has been indicted by the Cumberland County grand jury.

Robert Carson, 82, was charged with driving to endanger and operating after his license had been revoked, both Class C felonies that note there was serious bodily injury.

Mary “Terri” Anthoine, 60, of Portland lost both of her legs below the thigh after she was hit on Dec. 13, but she survived.

Anthoine was hit by Carson’s 2011 Toyota Highlander in the parking lot of Pratt-Abbott on Forest Avenue, police said. They said Carson’s SUV was unregistered and uninspected at the time.

LEWISTON — An Auburn man is accused of sexually abusing a boy for more than three years starting when the boy was younger than 12.

On several occasions, Joseph Poulin, 48, of Riverside Drive, Auburn, touched the boy’s genitals over and under his pants, according to a detective’s affidavit filed in 8th District Court. The affidavit was submitted in support of a warrant for Poulin’s arrest last week.

Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Detective Thomas Slivinski wrote in his affidavit that Poulin sexually abused the boy, sometimes while the boy was in bed.

The boy met with a specially trained forensic interviewer at the Children’s Advocacy Center of Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford counties where he disclosed the abuse after notifying his parents. He first told a 12-year-old friend at school, who had encouraged him to tell his parents about the abuse, according to Slivinski’s affidavit.

Poulin was freed from Androscoggin County Jail in Auburn on $5,000 cash bail Sunday. Conditions of his release include no contact with the boy or any minor.

Joseph Poulin (Androscoggin County Jail)

FARMINGTON — A Jay woman entered into a one-year delayed sentencing agreement Monday in connection to stealing nearly $5,000 from C.N. Brown in Farmington.

Lisa Parent, 49, pleaded guilty to two counts of felony theft in December in Franklin County Superior Court.

Sentencing was delayed to provide time for Parent to pay the nearly $5,000 back.

Deputy District Attorney James Andrews told the court Monday that Parent had paid restitution in full.

At a December hearing, Andrews described Parent as a manager at the store who was the only one who had the combination to the safe.

A district manager for the store called the Farmington Police Department after money was discovered missing and an investigatinon found that only a partial deposit was made on Feb. 2 and no deposit was made on Feb. 9.

If Parent complies with the conditions in the deferred sentencing agreement, she will be able to withdraw her pleas to the felony charges and plead to misdemeanors instead, Andrews said. If she fails to meet the conditions she faces up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

dperry@sunmediagroup.net

Maine State Police arrested a truck driver who was previously barred from operating in all 50 states.

Ralph Toro

A state trooper stopped a tractor-trailer truck for inspection on Friday on Route 1 in Yarmouth. The driver was Ralph Toro, 48, of Orange Park, Florida, according to a post on the Maine State Police Facebook page. The truck was being operated by Cloud Accounting LLC of Schooleys Mountain, N.J.

During the inspection, Cpl. Chris Rogers determined Toro’s right to operate a motor vehicle was under 10 active suspensions in New York. He was also suspended in North Carolna, barring him from operating a commercial vehicle in any state.

The trooper also determined Toro had been driving beyond his allowed hours, and he had falsified his hours in his log book on multiple days. State police placed Toro out of service until he was able to clear his license suspensions, and his truck was towed from the scene. He was issued criminal summonses for driving after being disqualified and operating a false logbook.

On Monday, three days later, another trooper was conducting routine inspections in Auburn. He stopped Toro driving a different truck. His license suspensions were not resolved, and he had again falsified his logbook.

Toro was arrested and taken to Androscoggin County Jail. Bail was set at $1,500 cash. He was again charged with operating after being disqualified, falsifying his logbook and operating after being placed out of service.

IN AUGUSTA, Monday at 8:55 a.m., theft was reported on Capitol Street.

10:24 a.m., a mental health and well-being check was done on Union Street.

12:35 p.m., harassment was reported on Franklin Street.

12:37 p.m., a disturbance was reported on New England Road.

1:05 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Western Avenue.

2:09 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Eastern Avenue.

3:11 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Mill Street.

6:29 p.m., a well-being check was done on Macomber Avenue.

8:08 p.m., a mental health and well-being check was done on Eastern Avenue.

9:15 p.m., an overdose rescue occurred on Winthrop Street.

10:04 p.m., a disturbance was reported on Child Street.

10:16 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Leighton Road.

11:29 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Stephen King Drive.

Tuesday at 12:53 a.m., a disturbance was reported on Northern Avenue.

1:09 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on Washington and Cumberland streets.

1:56 a.m., a disturbance was reported on Northern Avenue.

4:26 a.m., a disturbance was reported on Water Street.

IN GARDINER, Monday at 10:43 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on Cobbossee Avenue.

10:59 a.m., theft was reported by a caller on Church Street.

11:27 a.m., a possible threat was reported on Cobbossee Avenue.

1:11 p.m., harassment was reported on West Hill Road.

2:41 p.m., theft was reported on Karen Drive.

IN MOUNT VERNON, Monday at 9:08 a.m., a possible fraud was reported on North Road.

IN WINTHROP, Monday at 4:47 p.m., criminal mischief was reported on Pamela Drive.

9:13 p.m., harassment was reported on Turkey Lane.

ARRESTS

IN AUGUSTA, Monday at 2:05 p.m., Kevin Walthall, 64, of Augusta, was arrested on a warrant and a charge of attaching false plates, after a traffic accident was reported on Western Avenue.

5:41 p.m., Charles Del Messer, 31, of Vassalboro, was arrested on charges of failure to appear and fugitive from justice, after the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office assisted the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency on Water Street.

IN DRESDEN, Saturday, March 10 at an unidentified time, Jeffrey A. Peaslee, 30, of Dresden, was arrested on a charge of domestic violence assault, on Middle Road.

SUMMONSES

IN AUGUSTA, Monday at 1:47 p.m., a 26-year-old Bath woman was summoned on charges of failing to register a motor vehicle and operating while license was suspended or revoked, after a traffic stop was performed on Cony Street.

IN DRESDEN, Sunday at an unidentified time, Walter S. Kruse, 51, of Bath, was summoned on charges of operating while license was suspended or revoked, and violating conditions of release, on Middle Road.

IN WHITEFIELD, Thursday, March 8 at an unidentified time, a 29-year-old Readfield woman was summoned on a charge of failing to notify of a motor vehicle accident, on Cooper Road.

THOMASTON — A Thomaston man is a suspect in numerous break-ins and thefts from storage lockers in the midcoast during the last two years, police say.

Joshua Vandine, 37, was arrested by Maine State Police troopers in Rockland on Monday and charged with burglary and possessing a stolen gun, according to police spokesman Stephen McCausland.

Troopers seized enough items from Vandine’s home, vehicle and his storage locker to load up two U-Haul trucks. The items include chainsaws, tools, hunting and fishing equipment, coins, antiques, toys and clothing, according to McCausland.

Police are asking residents of Knox, Waldo, Lincoln and Sagadahoc counties to check their storage units to see if they are missing any items.

Vandine is suspected of cutting the padlocks from the storage units and then replacing the locks with his own to avoid immediate detection.

Owners who have not checked their storage units in months could be victims, police said. Storage unit owners and renters who have discovered they are victims should call the state police in Augusta at 624-7076.

Sheriffs’ offices from the four counties have been working with state police on the cases.

IN ANSON, Monday at 9:13 a.m., trespassing was reported on Four Mile Square Road.

IN ATHENS, Monday at 8:28 a.m., an abandoned motor vehicle was reported on Main Street.

IN CANAAN, Monday at 4:56 p.m., a harassment complaint was taken from Park Drive.

IN CORNVILLE, Monday at 11:05 a.m., a scam complaint was taken from West Ridge Road.

2:40 p.m., police and fire units from Skowhegan and Cornville responded to a report of an accident on Beckwith Road.

IN DETROIT, Monday at 1:48 p.m., a theft was reported on South Main Street.

IN FARMINGTON, Monday at 3:34 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on High Street.

5:53 p.m., a disturbance was reported on Farmington Falls Road.

Tuesday at 7:47 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on Main Street.

IN FAIRFIELD, Tuesday at 9:12 a.m., theft was reported on Winter Street.

3:15 p.m., a scam complaint was taken from Brayley Avenue.

6:59 p.m., a scam complaint was taken from Summit Street.

7:02 p.m., police made an arrest during a traffic stop on West Street.

Tuesday at 6:56 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on Center Road.

9:12 a.m., a theft was reported on Winter Street.

IN INDUSTRY, Monday at 7:20 p.m., threatening was reported on Evergreen Lane.

IN MADISON, Monday at 7:03 p.m., police made an arrest during a traffic stop on Kennebec Street.

7:12 p.m., a person was taken to the hospital after police received a report of a disturbance on Martins Road.

IN NORRIDGEWOCK, Monday at 2:22 p.m., a violation of bail or of a protection order was reported on Madison Road.

IN OAKLAND, Monday at 10:14 a.m., a domestic dispute was reported on Pleasant Street.

10:36 a.m., criminal mischief was reported on Summer Street.

8:33 p.m., a domestic dispute was reported on Belgrade Road.

IN PALMYRA, Tuesday at 7:58 a.m., a scam complaint was taken from Webb Ridge Road.

IN SKOWHEGAN, Monday at 9:45 a.m., a harassment complaint was taken from Hathaway Street.

10:49 a.m., a theft complaint was investigated on Fairview Avenue.

11:52 a.m., a disturbance was reported on Bridge Street.

3:02 p.m., police made an arrest following a report of a disturbance on Fairview Avenue.

7:41 p.m., police were called to assist another agency on McClellan Street.

Tuesday at 7:06 a.m., a harassment complaint was taken from Family Circle.

IN WATERVILLE, Monday at 8:04 a.m., harassment was reported on Wilson Street.

8:26 a.m., an assault was reported on Main Street.

9:21 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on Gilman Street.

9:48 a.m., a person was reported missing on Elm Street.

10:30 a.m., harassment was reported on Crestwood Drive.

11:26 a.m., shoplifting was reported on Washington Street.

1:24 p.m., a call about a fire was taken on Drummond Avenue.

2:44 p.m., an assault was reported on West River Road.

4:42 p.m., shoplifting was reported on Elm Plaza.

10:25 p.m., a domestic dispute was reported on College Avenue.

Tuesday at 12:09 a.m., a domestic dispute was reported on Hathaway Street.

12:10 a.m., a domestic dispute was reported on Hazelwood Avenue.

IN WILTON, Monday at 7:01 p.m., a domestic disturbance was reported on Main Street.

9:01 p.m., a chimney fire was reported on Village View Street.

9:21 p.m., a domestic disturbance was reported on Village View Street.

IN WINSLOW, Monday at 6:38 p.m., a disturbance was reported on Halifax Street.

IN WYMAN TOWNSHIP, Monday at 9:25 a.m., harassment was reported on Carrabassett Drive.

ARRESTS

IN FAIRFIELD, Monday at 3:42 p.m., Philip John Hitchcock, 46, of Bangor, was arrested on charges of operating after suspension, violating conditions of release and violating a protective order.

7:02 p.m., Christopher John May, 31, of Brewer, was arrested on a warrant.

IN FRANKLIN COUNTY, Monday at 1:24 p.m., Noah Ray Fisher, 18, of Boise, Idaho, was arrested on a charge of being a fugitive from justice for military desertion.

1:24 p.m., Austin Seeley, 19, of Farmington, was arrested on a charge of being a fugitive from justice for military desertion.

IN SOMERSET COUNTY, Monday at 4:20 p.m., Gradyn Matthew Dyer, 20, a transient, was arrested on charges of assault and aggravated criminal mischief.

5:51 p.m., Philip John Hitchcock, 46, of Bangor, was arrested on charges of violating a protection order, violating conditions of release and operating after suspension.

8:50 p.m., Derek Ames Knowles, 38, of Skowhegan, was arrested on a probation hold.

9:16 p.m., Christopher John May, 31, of Brewer, was arrested on a warrant for unpaid fines or fees.

IN WATERVILLE, Monday at 8:42 a.m., Jordan Allen, 31, of Milo, was arrested on a warrant.

4:45 p.m., Dakota Raven, 22, of Waterville, was arrested on charges of theft by unauthorized taking or transfer, theft by unauthorized use of property, possession of a firearm when prohibited, violating a protective order, violating conditions of release and operating a vehicle without a license.

Tuesday at 12:09 a.m., Mark Zeytoonian, 57, of Waterville, was arrested on a charge of domestic violence assault.

12:10 a.m., Cameron Bouchard, 23, of Waterville, was arrested on a charge of domestic violence assault and a warrant.

IN WINSLOW, Monday at 8:45 a.m., Martin Allen Fernald, 27, of Winslow, was arrested on a warrant.

SUMMONSES

IN WATERVILLE, Monday at 11:55 a.m., Alphenso Lincoln Jarvis, 29, of Fairfield, was summoned on a charge of operating with a suspended or revoked license.

IN WINSLOW, Monday at 11:28 a.m., Roger Carl Smith, 36, of Waterville, was summoned on charges of operating with a suspended or revoked license and attaching false plates.

A teenager arrested in connection with a November stabbing in Westbrook pleaded guilty to a lesser charge this month.

The Westbrook Police Department responded at 3:47 a.m. on Nov. 3 to a disturbance near the intersection of Main and Haskell streets. Officers found a 17-year-old boy who had been stabbed multiple times during a series of fights among young people. The suspect fled before police arrived at the scene.

Later that morning, Westbrook detectives arrested 19-year-old Justin Neves of Saco. He was charged with elevated aggravated assault and violation of a condition of release. Elevated aggravated assault is a felony, and the initial complaint alleged Neves used a knife to harm another person.

In December, however, a grand jury indicted Neves on charges of assault and violation of a condition of release. The assault charge is a Class D misdemeanor, and the mention of a knife or other weapon was dropped from the indictment. Neves pleaded guilty to those charges March 7 and was sentenced to 90 days at Cumberland County Jail for each. Those sentences are running concurrently with prior sentences, and his release date is listed as April 23.

“The investigation made clear that Justin did not stab anybody, so the charge related to that were dismissed,” said Luke Rioux, the attorney who represented Neves in the case.

Also in December, a warrant was filed for another man connected to the stabbing. Tyrese Collins, 18, of Durham was charged with aggravated assault – a felony. He is also being held at Cumberland County Jail, and a judge ordered police reports and other documents in his case be held under seal.

An attorney for Collins said he was just appointed to the case and was not prepared to comment.

Megan Doyle can be contacted at 791-6327 or at:

mdoyle@pressherald.com

Twitter: megan_e_doyle

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court has upheld an Augusta man’s conviction on child pornography charges.

Randy Marquis, now 44, was convicted by a jury in March 2017 of three charges of possession of sexually explicit materials depicting children under 12 — specifically, two separate images and one video — on the computer in his Northern Avenue home.

He had appealed his conviction, saying that a judge should have not permitted the use of statements Marquis made to investigators when they interviewed him at his home or the evidence they obtained when they came to his home on Jan. 16, 2015.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court, also known as the Law Court, heard oral arguments in the Marquis appeal last month, publishing a decision Tuesday on the court’s website.

At that hearing, attorney Scott Hess, who represented Marquis in the case, argued that Marquis had not given them permission to enter the home.

“Mr. Marquis ‘didn’t invite them in or lead them in,'” Hess told the justices. Chief Justice Leigh Saufley responded that Marquis gave the officers consent to search his computer.

At the same hearing, Associate Justice Thomas Humphrey noted that on an audio recording of the interview, Maine State Police Detective Justin Kittredge told Marquis many times, “I don’t have a warrant. You don’t have to let me do this.”

Assistant District Attorney Frayla Tarpinian, who was also the prosecutor at the trial, maintained that rulings in the case were proper and the conviction on the three charges should stand.

The decision, authored by Maine Supreme Court Associate Justice Donald Alexander, rejects Marquis’ appeal, concluding, “(T)here is sufficient evidence in the record to support a finding that Marquis consented to the officers’ entry.”

Alexander noted that “the investigator gave Marquis a consent-to-search form and told him that by signing the form he was consenting to a search of the computer and the SD card for illegal contraband, specifically child pornography, and that he did not have to give consent. Marquis signed the form, asking for the date.”

Marquis, who did not testify at his trial, was sentenced in April 2017 to an initial six months behind bars, and the remainder of the three-year term was suspended while he spends two years on probation. He is currently on probation.

Betty Adams — 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @betadams

FARMINGTON — Two men enlisted in the Army who left their base without permission turned themselves in to police Monday after the military issued warrants for their arrest.

Warrants for desertion were issued for Austin M. Seeley, 19, of Farmington, and Noah R. Fisher, 18, of Boise, Idaho, by the Army several weeks ago, according to a deputy from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office.

The two men apparently drove together from their base at Fort Benning in Georgia to Maine, where Seeley is a native. Police said that once Seeley’s father caught wind of the two being back in the area, he contacted Seeley and convinced them to turn themselves into police.

The pair peacefully surrendered to Franklin County police at about 1:30 p.m. Monday and were charged with fugitive from justice military desertion. They told police that they left their base because of issues they were experiencing with senior officers, though they did not go into detail.

Seeley and Fisher currently are being held without bail and it is pending on whether they will be taken back to their base. Because they were arrested on military warrants, their cases will be heard by a court martial.

Emily Higginbotham — 861-9239

ehigginbotham@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @EmilyHigg

Cynthia Brown, photographed Tuesday at J’s Oyster, will serve four months in jail for failure to pay state sales and income taxes. Staff photo by Ben McCanna

The owner of a landmark bar and restaurant on Portland’s waterfront will serve four months in jail and pay more than $1.3 million in restitution for failing to turn over most of her sales taxes to the state, and for not paying her personal and corporate Maine income taxes, over a period of seven years.

Cynthia Brown of Portland, who owns and operates J’s Oyster on Commercial Street, was sentenced Monday by Superior Court Justice Lance Walker to four years in prison with all but four months suspended, Maine Attorney General Janet Mills said in a statement Tuesday. Brown, 58, also was placed on three years probation.

Brown, who has an 11-year-old grandson, will begin serving her sentence, most likely at the Cumberland County Jail, in two weeks.

Mills said that Brown owed Maine Revenue Services, the state tax agency, more than $1.3 million in restitution, and has repaid more than $829,000 since pleading guilty in January 2017. Brown is required, under terms of her probation, to repay the remaining $473,000.

“Maine citizens trust business owners to pay over the sales tax charged to their customers to Maine Revenue Services and to pay personal and corporate taxes on the income that they earn,” said Mills, a Democratic candidate for governor. “My office will pursue individuals who abuse the trust placed in them to collect sales tax for the benefit of the people of the State of Maine. We also will strive to recover as much restitution as possible in order to make Maine taxpayers whole.”

Brown, beginning in March 2008, began failing to turn over most of the sales tax she collected from restaurant patrons to Maine Revenue Services. Mills said Brown “illegally kept” the remaining funds for her own personal and business use.

“Brown then underreported the restaurant’s taxable sales and sales taxes collected, which enabled Brown to steal over $800,000 in sales tax,” Mills said in the statement. “She also failed to pay personal and corporate income tax during this time period.”

Mills said the practice of not paying sales and income taxes to the state eventually ended in March 2015.

Brown’s attorney, Tom Hallett of Portland, said his client’s willingness and ability to repay restitution to the state earned her a reduced sentence. If she had gone to trial and lost her case, Brown might have received a longer sentence – potentially in the range of seven to 15 months.

“You always hope for no jail time, but we weren’t able to do that in this,” Hallett said Tuesday. “In all honesty, this was a fairly lenient sentence.”

Hallett said he remains hopeful that jail officials will grant Brown work release privileges. If that were to happen, Brown could work at her restaurant during most of the day, Hallett said. She won’t be eligible for work release until about one month into her sentence.

In a telephone interview Tuesday evening, Brown was asked if she had any regrets about what she did.

“Yes, one hundred percent. I was in a dark place,” she said. “It wasn’t done with intent. I let things go drastically for a while and this is where I ended up.”

During those years, Brown said she devoted much of her time to caring for her sick husband, Lester Brown, and not enough time attending to her business affairs. He died in 2013 after a battle with cancer.

“My husband’s death brought me out of my fog,” Brown said.

Brown took it upon herself to repay her debts, an effort she credits her employees for helping her accomplish.

“The business has been doing so well. I’ve been able to pay a lot of the money back,” Brown said.

J’s Oyster was established in 1977. Brown took over the business in 1989 after the death of her mother, Janice Noyes.

The case was investigated by the Maine Revenue Services’ Criminal Investigations Unit. Hallett, Brown’s attorney, said that the matter only involved violations affecting state taxes. The Internal Revenue Service was not involved, Hallett said.

FARMINGTON — Police say a Pennsylvania man is accused of helping a customer at a local dealership buy a car and acquiring the customer’s phone during the transaction.

He proceeded to send nude photos of the customer to himself, according to information posted on Farmington Police Department’s Facebook page.

On Tuesday, Farmington officer Jacob Richards arrested Kevin Rennie, 32, of Philadelphia, on a felony charge of aggravated criminal invasion of computer privacy.

Richards began an investigation after he spoke to a customer of Tinny’s Auto Outlet in Farmington on Monday who worked with Rennie when he helped her with the purchase of a car.

Tinny’s had hired a marketing firm to do a promotional event and Rennie was a subcontracted sales representative for the marketing firm, Deputy Police Chief Shane Cote said. The dealership has severed ties with the marketing firm.

Rennie was issued a no trespassing warning to stay off the property, Police Department secretary Bonnie Pomeroy said Tuesday.

A conviction on the charge is punishable by a maximum five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Rennie is being held in lieu of $10,000 cash bail at the Franklin County Detention Center in Farmington. If he does not post bail, he will appear before a judge Wednesday.

FARMINGTON — A Jay woman entered into a one-year delayed sentencing agreement Monday in connection with stealing nearly $5,000 from a C.N. Brown convenience store in Farmington.

Lisa Parent, 49, pleaded guilty to two counts of felony theft in December in Franklin County Superior Court.

Sentencing was delayed to provide time for Parent to pay back the nearly $5,000.

Deputy District Attorney James Andrews told the court Monday that Parent had paid restitution in full.

In December, Andrews said if the case went to trial, testimony would have been heard that Parent was a manager at the Route 4 store and the only one who had access and the combination to the safe. Only a manager is authorized to make deposits for the store

There would also be testimony that only a partial deposit was made Feb. 2, $2,331 short of what was supposed to be deposited. No deposit was made on Feb. 9, which should have been $2,558, Andrews said.

A district manager for the store called the Farmington police after money’s absence was discovered. Officer Darin Gilbert conducted an investigation before arresting Parent.

If Parent completes the conditions in the deferred sentencing agreement, she will be able to withdraw her pleas to felony charges and plead to a misdemeanor and there would be a discharge in the case, Andrews said.

If she is unsuccessful, she faces up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

The former owners of a popular Old Port restaurant have been indicted by the Cumberland County grand jury on charges of theft by deception and negotiating a worthless instrument.

Renowned chef Shannon D. Bard, 47, was indicted on Class C felony charges of theft by deception and negotiating a worthless instrument, according to the March list of Cumberland County grand jury indictments.

Her husband, 62-year-old Thomas Bard, was indicted on Class B felony charges of theft by deception and negotiating a worthless instrument. The couple live in Kennebunk, according to the indictment.

The Bards operated Zapoteca, a well reviewed Mexican restaurant on Fore Street, for six years before it closed in June of last year. Shannon Bard, who published a cookbook two years ago, rose to fame through TV cooking appearances, taking the top prize in 2014 from the Food Network show “Kitchen Inferno.”

But by September last year, the couple were facing a dozen lawsuits filed by vendors who say the couple left a trail of unpaid bills when they closed.

The restaurant was among the most highly regarded in Portland and Bard was well known even beyond Maine, with appearances on cooking competition shows on the Food Network and a cookbook published two years ago. The couple said they decided to close it and concentrate on a restaurant and cooking school in their hometown of Kennebunk so they could spend more time with their children, who are in high school and college.

They made no mention of the lawsuits filed in Cumberland County courts that suggest increasing financial pressures on the restaurant starting last fall.

The suits paint a picture of Bard that is starkly at odds with her national reputation as an acclaimed restaurateur who has cooked at the world-famous James Beard House in New York.

In November, Independent Restaurant Supply of Portland, which sells silverware, furniture and kitchen equipment to restaurants, filed suit against the Bards, claiming it was owed $6,000 by Bard Enterprises, the parent company of Zapoteca.

In the suit, the company said Zapoteca had ordered supplies from the company through 2013 and after that made only occasional payments, “which ended in June 2015 along with any communication regarding their outstanding balance.”

In November, Tom Bard, who operates Bard Enterprises, spoke briefly to the Portland Press Herald, playing down the couple’s financial difficulties.

“We’re working with everybody” to settle the bills, he said. “Closing down a restaurant is never an easy thing to do.”

Bard said Zapoteca was “a good, strong, profitable restaurant,” and suggested that some of the financial problems they have experienced stemmed from Mixteca, the restaurant the two operated in New Hampshire.

“Everything kind of got pushed up from there,” he said. “We’re basically working through it and that’s all I’ve got to say about it.”

Other creditors who filed suit included a natural gas supplier, which said it was owed nearly $13,000, with court costs; Micucci’s, an Italian grocer in Portland, which said the restaurant owed it nearly $900, with additional costs for its attempts to collect the money; a restaurant supply company, which said its $6,000 bill had not been paid; a food service company, which said it had an unpaid bill for slightly more than $10,000; and Republicash, a check cashing and payday loan company, which filed suit for $9,000 after it said the restaurant’s paychecks to employees bounced.

Many of the suits were filed last spring and summer, while others date even further back, including one in which a New Hampshire landlord claimed to be owed more than $70,000 for a restaurant named Mixteca that Bard operated in Durham, New Hampshire, and closed in January. That debt is impinging on Tom and Shannon Bard’s private life, with a lien placed on the couple’s 227-year-old, $440,000 house near downtown Kennebunk.

Casco View Holdings III, the landlord of the building that housed the Portland restaurant, also filed suit against Zapoteca, claiming the restaurant failed to pay its rent in January. In November, the rent was more than $6,600 a month, with taxes, trash collection fees, water bills and a late fee pushing the tab to over $10,000 a month.

Sergio Ramos, the former manager of Zapoteca, also filed suit against the restaurant, saying the company had not paid him in line with the terms of his $50,000-a-year contract, which also had a provision that would allow him to buy a piece of the business, with increasing amounts depending on how long he worked there. The lawyer handling the suit for the former manager said the dispute has been ordered into arbitration and he declined to discuss the details.

Several of the lawsuits against the Bards were resolved as default judgments because the Bards did not show up to contest them.

Agera Energy, the restaurant’s natural gas supplier, filed suit after it claimed the Bards failed to pay a bill for $8,081. Interest added more than $1,700 to the tab, plus $3,000 for attorney’s fees, for a total of $12,803.72, more than 50 percent above the original bill. The lien filed by 6 Jenkins Court, the New Hampshire landlord of the restaurant there, is accruing interest at a rate of nearly 7 percent.

Trimark United, a food service and equipment supplier, said it was owed $10,007.90 by the Bards. That company’s suit also alleged that Tom Bard changed a section in the credit agreement between the company and Bard, crossing out information indicating that the couple owned their house in Kennebunk and instead, writing that the house was rented, possibly an attempt to shield it if the company sought to collect any unpaid bills by putting a lien on the house. Trimark United’s suit against the Bards indicated that the company was seeking half the value of the house, or $220,000, as a punitive measure.