A heavily tattooed fugitive from justice who was wanted on a nationwide extradition warrant for unarmed robbery was arrested in Buxton over the weekend.

Maine State Police, in a statement posted on their Facebook page, identified the fugitive as Richard L. Duest, 28, of Malden, Massachusetts.

Richard Duest

According to state police, Trooper Doug Cropper stopped a pickup truck in Hollis on Friday for an inspection sticker violation. A passenger in the truck, now believed to be Duest, provided a name and date of birth that did not come back on file in Maine or Massachusetts. Cropper decided to let the truck go because he did not have enough information to detain the passenger.

After the traffic stop, Cropper shared information – specifically the tattoos on Duest’s neck and below both eyes – with the Maine Information and Analysis Center and the Massachusetts Fusion Center. Based largely on the tattoos, those agencies confirmed that the passenger was Duest, who was being sought on a nationwide extradition warrant from the U.S. Probation Department in Boston.

The original charge against Duest was unarmed bank robbery. There also was a warrant for his arrest out of Rhode Island.

On Saturday, state police said troopers, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency set up surveillance Saturday on a home in Buxton.

Cropper observed Duest traveling in a different vehicle in Buxton on Saturday and stopped it. Duest was arrested on a charge of being a fugitive from justice and providing a false name to a law enforcement officer. He was transported to the York County Jail, where he will be held pending extradition to Massachusetts.

AUGUSTA — A 26-year-old Jay man whose murder trial ended in a hung jury pleaded guilty Monday to the lesser charge of manslaughter in connection with a dispute over a $200 marijuana debt.

Timothy S. Danforth’s case had been moved to Kennebec County after a mistrial was declared in Franklin County. The plea hearing Monday took place at the Capital Judicial Center and the case was postponed until April 18 for sentencing.

Danforth was charged in the shotgun slaying of Michael Reis, 24, of New Sharon, early on June 1, 2016, at Danforth’s father’s home in Wilton. Danforth was indicted in Aug. 17, 2016, on a charge of “intentional or knowing murder.”

He has been free on bail since early December 2016.

On Monday, Justice William Stokes told Danforth that the manslaughter charge carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, and then asked him a series of questions to be sure his plea was voluntary. Danforth did not speak other than answering yes.

The prosecutor said the anticipated sentence is 15 years with up to six years of that to be served initially, and the remainder suspended while Danforth serves four years of probation.

Defense attorneys Sarah Glynn and Jeffrey Wilson will argue for Danforth to spend less than six years behind bars initially.

About 20 people, including family members and friends of Reis and Danforth, watched the plea hearing from the benches in the small courtroom.

Asked for comment following the manslaughter plea hearing, Joe Bissonnette of New Sharon, who with his wife Christine, raised Reis, said, “Not right now.”

The two defense attorneys also said they had no comment.

At the trial Danforth’s attorneys argued that the shooting was in self-defense, defense of his property and defense of others. The jury was taken to view the shooting scene, a rented trailer on Weld Road.

Danforth did not testify at his trial, which took place Sept. 25, 2017-Oct. 2, 2017, in Farmington.

Reis was with a half dozen people who had apparently gone to Robert Danforth’s home regarding a $200 marijuana debt owed by an 18-year-old to Robert Danforth.

The defense said the people had brought a baseball bat, golf clubs, wrenches and brass knuckles with them.

In a motion filed with the court seeking a jury viewing, defense attorney Wilson wrote that Reis had “rushed from the blind side of the trailer and attacked the Danforths as they stood on their front porch. Mr. Reis did not stop his attack even after Mr. Danforth tried to stop Mr. Reis with shotgun shots to Mr. Reis’ foot and knee. The only thing that stopped Mr. Reis was a shot to the shoulder. Mr. Reis died from loss of blood on the way to the hospital.”

At Monday’s hearing, the prosecutor, Assistant Attorney General Robert “Bud” Ellis, outlined the state’s case against Timothy Danforth, saying a gun-toting Timothy Danforth told Trevon Goodwin a day previously that he wanted beat up Zachary Uhlman, who apparently owed the drug debt.

Ellis said there were a number of threatening comments made in an on-going battle of text messages between Robert Danforth and supporters of Uhlman.

Ellis said Timothy Danforth was aware of the dispute and that various weapons were placed around the Danforth home showing preparation.

Late on May 31, 2016, Matt Kerr, one of those in the vehicle that parked on the road near the Danforth trailer, went first, saying he would act as mediator. He was met by a gunshot.

Then after telling the others he wanted to help Kerr, Reis walked down the driveway.

“At that point he was moving slowly, he had no weapons,” Ellis told the judge. “There were a couple witnesses who testified that his hands were up as he entered the driveway and walked towards the house,”

Those with the vehicle then heard three quick gunshots, and drove down the street, where they found Kerr dragging the injured Reis to the end of the driveway, Ellis said. They drove Reis to the hospital in the vehicle.

Ellis noted that at the trial, Dr. Mark Flomenbaum testified that the fatal shot was the third one that went into Reis’ lung.

“I understand that there were elements of the state’s evidence that were hotly disputed by the defense,” Stokes said.

However, defense attorneys acknowledged to him on Monday that if a jury believed the state’s case, it could find Danforth guilty of manslaughter.

After the trial the Stokes had allowed lawyers to send jurors a letter asking, among other things, about the 11-1 deadlock cited in two notes addressed to the court. It asked “whether the 11 votes were for murder, manslaughter or not guilty, and whether the one vote was for murder, manslaughter or not guilty.” The results of that survey were to be kept confidential.

A new trial had been scheduled in Kennebec County, with jury selection to take place at the end of this week. Prior to the Franklin County trial, the state had offered Danforth a chance to plead to manslaughter, but he had declined.

Betty Adams — 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @betadams

SKOWHEGAN — It wasn’t heroin that killed 34-year-old Valerie Tieman in 2016, as her husband Luc claims; it was two shots from a semi-automatic pistol found by police in Luc Tieman’s parents’ home in Fairfield.

That was part of opening statements by Assistant Attorney General Leanne Robbin Monday on the first day of Luc Tieman’s murder trial.

“That’s a very fine story, but it’s only a story,” Tieman’s defense attorney, Stephen Smith, told the jury of eight men and six women, including two alternates. “Each story is like a brick in a brick wall — you will find him not guilty” when the wall is complete.

Tieman, 34, faces 25 years to life in prison if he is found guilty of murder.

A disabled U.S. Army veteran, Tieman is charged with intentional or knowing murder in the death of his wife, Valerie Tieman.

The body of Valerie Tieman was discovered by state police detectives and game wardens on Sept. 20, 2016, wrapped in a blanket with a bag of potato chips, a bottle of perfume and a note that reportedly had an “apologetic tone,” according to the autopsy report. She had been shot twice in the head and neck.

Robbin, who is assisting Assistant Attorney General Leanne Zainea with the prosecution, called Valerie Tieman’s parents, Sarajean and Allen Harmon, to the stand Monday morning, piecing together the details leading to the discovery of Valerie’s body some 400 feet behind Luc Tieman’s parents’ home on Norridgewock Road in Fairfield. The couple, who live in South Carolina, had become concerned when they had not heard from Valerie for about 10 days.

In text exchanges between Valerie’s father and Luc Tieman, both spoke of their trust in God and their love of Valerie.

“Husbands love their wives like Christ loves the church,” Luc Tieman texted to Allen Harmon in the days leading up to her being reported missing to Fairfield police.

Luc Tieman, who served in Iraq and reportedly suffers from severe post-traumatic stress disorder, has pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The murder is alleged to have taken place Aug. 25 — 15 days before her parents reported her missing and five days before Tieman claimed his wife disappeared from the Walmart parking lot in Skowhegan, but he did not report her missing.

Luc Tieman initially told police she disappeared from his pickup truck outside Walmart, but later said she died of a drug overdose.

An autopsy report from the state medical examiner’s office says she died of two gunshot wounds to the head and was found buried in Luc Tieman’s parents’ backyard off Norridgewock Road in Fairfield.

Tieman, in text messages to Allen Harmon in mid-September, stuck to the Walmart story — perhaps knowing that his wife already had been dead for going on two weeks.

There was talk of drug use on Valerie’s part, the possibility of there being another man in her life and also a question of whether Luc Tieman had already been seeing another woman.

“We need some answers,” Harmon texted, telling Zainea under direct examination in court Monday that his concern that Luc Tieman was living with another woman was upsetting because “He was supposed to be married to our daughter.”

Smith did not cross examine the Harmons, who maintained a cheerful appearance during questioning by the state prosecutor.

The state also called three Fairfield police officers to the stand Monday, building the time line of the missing person report filed Sept. 12, 2016, and the investigation, which later was turned over the Maine State Police’s Major Crime Unit.

This story will be updated

Doug Harlow — 612-2367

dharlow@centralmaine.com

Twitter:@Doug_Harlow

Authorities are asking the public to help identify a man they say stole a phone and its sales receipt from a home in China and then tried to return the item to the Walmart in Augusta.

In a Facebook post, Maine State Police said the suspect is accused of taking the phone from a home on Pleasant View Ridge Road in China. They didn’t identify the time of the alleged theft or how recently the phone had been purchased.

Later Monday, state police removed the original Facebook post, saying they now had a “viable lead” on the suspect.

In a security camera photo taken at the Augusta store, the man is wearing what appears to be a camouflage baseball hat and gray sweatshirt. He drives a red, extended cab GMC truck, police said.

IN ALBION, Sunday at 2:27 p.m., an assault was reported on Bog Road.

IN ATHENS, Sunday at 3:26 p.m., breaking and entering was reported on Brighton Road.

IN BENTON, Sunday at 10:03 p.m., a structure fire was reported on Hanscom Road.

IN CAMBRIDGE, Sunday at 8:06 p.m., an assault was reported on Leavitt Road.

IN CARRABASSETT VALLEY, Sunday at 9:57 a.m., vandalism was reported on Access Road.

Monday at 4:02 a.m., a disturbance was reported on Birchwood Lane.

IN DETROIT, Sunday at 9:05 p.m., loud noise or music was reported on Buttons Road.

IN EUSTIS, Sunday at 12:17 p.m., threatening was reported on Old Dead River Road.

IN FAIRFIELD, Sunday at 7:28 p.m., an assault was reported on Covell Road.

9 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Main Street.

10:03 p.m., a structure fire was reported on Hanscom Road.

IN FARMINGTON, Sunday at 3:21 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on Front Street.

7:35 a.m., suspicious activity was reported at Main and Front streets.

IN HARTLAND, Sunday at 6:32 p.m., a past burglary was reported on Judkins Road.

IN JAY, Sunday at 8:21 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on Main Street.

Monday at 12:58 a.m., a missing person was reported on Bridge Street.

IN MOSCOW, Sunday at 9:15 p.m., a harassment complaint was taken on Canada Road.

IN NEW VINEYARD, Saturday at 9:13 a.m., a domestic disturbance was reported on High Street.

IN OAKLAND, Sunday at 12:33 p.m., a domestic dispute was reported at Oak and Ayer streets.

5:48 p.m., an unwanted person was reported on Smithfield Road.

IN PHILLIPS, Monday at 6:31 a.m., a domestic disturbance was reported on River Road.

IN RANGELEY, Saturday at 2:02 p.m., harassment was reported on Main Street.

9:04 p.m., a disturbance was reported on Center Street.

IN SKOWHEGAN, Sunday at 12:08 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on South Factory Street.

Monday at 8:50 a.m., shoplifting was reported on West Front Street.

IN WATERVILLE, Sunday at 12:33 p.m., a domestic dispute was reported on Elm Court.

1:13 p.m., a fire call was taken on Elm Street.

1:24 p.m., harassment was reported on Autumn Street.

5:40 p.m., a disturbance was reported on Canabas Avenue.

6:23 p.m., harassment was reported on Elm Street.

7:27 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on College Avenue.

9:02 p.m., theft was reported on Veteran Court.

10:18 p.m., an assault was reported on North Street.

10:33 p.m., an unwanted person was reported on Green Street.

IN WINSLOW, Sunday at 4:20 p.m., a disturbance was reported on Monument Street.

Monday at 1:14 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on Cushman Road.

ARRESTS

IN FAIRFIELD, Sunday at 7:28 p.m., Chauncey James Chapman, 34, of Fairfield, was arrested on a charge of domestic violence assault.

IN FRANKLIN COUNTY, Sunday at 8:10 p.m., Jason Paul Hickey, 45, of New Vineyard, was arrested on a charge of operating under the influence.

IN SOMERSET COUNTY, Sunday at 6:26 p.m., Callen Apollo Whipple, 31, of Benton, was arrested on charges of operating under the influence and operating with a suspended or revoked license.

7:31 p.m., John Wayne Holland, 29, of The Forks, was arrested on charges of refusing to submit to arrest or detention and operating under the influence.

9:33 p.m., Rachel Raye Murray, 34, of Cambridge, was arrested on charges of domestic violence assault and assault.

Monday at 9:06 a.m., James Amos Thaler, 41, of St. Albans, was arrested on a revocation of probation.

SUMMONSES

IN FAIRFIELD, Saturday at 12:45 a.m., Andrew St. Pierre, 32, of Fairfield, was summonsed on a charge of operating after suspension.

8:01 p.m., James Lemelin, 18, of Belgrade, was summonsed on a charge of illegal transportation of drugs by a minor.

8:01 p.m., Justyce St. Clair, 18, of Sidney, was summonsed on charges of sale and use of drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana.

11:10 p.m., Janie O’Halloran, 26, of Benton, was summonsed on a charge of operating with suspended registration.

IN WATERVILLE, Sunday at 4:07 p.m., Zachery Vashon, 24, of Winslow, was summonsed on a charge of operating with suspended registration.

7:31 p.m., Cory Bezanson, 28, of Waterville, was summonsed on a charge of failure to register a vehicle.

IN AUGUSTA, Sunday at 9:08 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on Western Avenue.

9:44 a.m., theft was reported on Weston Street.

12:08 p.m., property was recovered on State and Bridge streets.

6:03 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Capitol Street.

6:08 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Riverside Drive.

6:52 p.m., a disturbance was reported on Glenridge Drive.

8:26 p.m., a disturbance was reported on Mount Vernon Avenue.

9:49 p.m., a disturbance was reported on State Street.

Monday at 1:55 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on Stephen King Drive.

2:35 a.m., a disturbance was reported on Northern Avenue.

5:35 a.m., a past burglary was reported on Edison Drive.

5:56 a.m., a disturbance was reported on Water Street.

IN CHELSEA, Saturday at 1:06 p.m., trespass was reported on Windsor Road.

3:04 p.m., a family fight was reported on Windsor Road.

IN GARDINER, Friday at 1:22 p.m., theft was reported on Highland Avenue.

8:56 p.m., a fight was reported on Highland Avenue.

Saturday at 1:06 a.m., threatening was reported on Brunswick Avenue.

5:19 p.m., threatening voicemails were reported on Church Street.

9 p.m., theft was reported on Brunswick Avenue.

Monday at 7:31 a.m., vandalism was reported on Summer Street.

IN HALLOWELL, Sunday at 2:43 p.m., a mental health and well-being check was performed on Middle Street.

10:06 p.m., a disturbance was reported on Second Street.

IN MONMOUTH, Saturday at 12:54 p.m., a traffic hazard was reported on Main Street.

IN RANDOLPH, Friday at 10:01 p.m., a suspicious person was reported on Kinderhook Street.

ARRESTS

IN AUGUSTA, Sunday at 9:41 a.m., Krysta L. Roberts, 25, of Gardiner, was arrested on a warrant, on Mount Vernon Avenue.

6:09 p.m., Amy Lee Goldberg, 30, of Augusta, was arrested on a warrant, on Gage Street.

6:28 p.m., Kevin Millette, 37, of Augusta, was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct (loud noise, private place), and refusing to submit to arrest or detention, after a disturbance was reported on Weston Street.

SUMMONSES

IN MONMOUTH, Saturday at 6:54 a.m., a 32-year-old Greene woman was issued a summons on a charge of failing to give notice of accident by quickest means, after a traffic accident was reported on Cressey Road.

BANGOR — A judge has ordered a man charged in the deaths of a man and woman found in a burning truck in Maine to be held without bail.

Twenty-five-year-old John De St. Croix made his initial court appearance on Monday after being charged with two counts of murder on Friday.

The victims, 43-year-old Michael Bridges and 36-year-old Desiree York, were found dead in the back of the burning truck last week.

The motive remains unclear.

Superior Court Justice Ann Murray on Monday ordered state police affidavits containing investigatory details to be impounded.

Defense lawyer David Bate said he had light to shed on the matter. He said he’d only met briefly with his client, and didn’t want to comment.

Sharon Carrillo sits with her attorney, Christopher MacLean, in Waldo County Superior Court on Monday, while her husband, Julio Carrillo, waits to be arraigned. Ethan Andrews/Republican Journal

BELFAST — The mother and stepfather accused of beating their 10-year-old daughter to death pleaded not guilty to murder charges Monday.

Marissa Kennedy suffered months of abuse prior to her death in late February in their Stockton Springs home, according to investigative filings in court.

Marissa Kennedy Photo courtesy of Maine Attorney General’s Office

Sharon and Julio Carrillo entered the pleas at their arraignment in Waldo County Superior Court. Afterward, their attorneys hinted that the defense of either Carrillo may hinge on discrediting the other.

The crime shocked and angered people across Maine, and has led to two investigations of the Department of Health and Human Services’ child protective system.

Sharon Carrillo, 33, is scheduled to have a mental examination later this month. Both Carrillos are being held in jail.

Julio Carrillo, 51, was Marissa Kennedy’s stepfather and was reportedly in the process of adopting her. Police at the time said that both Sharon and Julio Carrillo confessed to beating Kennedy over several months prior to her death.

Sharon Carrillo appeared in court with her attorney, Christopher MacLean, who entered the not guilty plea on her behalf.

“It takes her some time to process information and understand what’s happening,” MacLean said after the arraignment. “She’s also a fairly timid and quiet person.”

MacLean has said Sharon Carrillo has an IQ between 70 and 75 and that she was abused by her husband. On Monday, he reiterated that his client has “underlying mental retardation” and is intellectually deficient.

“Whether she has more complicated psychological conditions – we’re exploring that,” he said.

Sharon Carrillo’s defense team has moved to remove state attorneys Leane Zainea and Donald Macomber from the prosecution after they obtained Carrillo’s records from a boarding school she attended in New York state using a subpoena with a court date that had not been set.

MacLean said the subpoena had no authority when used outside of Maine, and along with the fabricated date, was intended to trick the head of the school into mailing Sharon Carrillo’s records, which she did. The state tried to get records from a Newburgh, New York, Walmart where both the Carrillos may have worked but rescinded the subpoena before receiving any records from Walmart, Zainea said at a hearing last week.

Superior Court Justice Robert Murray ruled at that hearing that the records were improperly obtained by the state and barred them from use in the case. He gave the state 48 hours to hand over the records along with a list of state workers and police who had reviewed them.

A motion by Sharon Carrillo’s defense team to dismiss the two state attorneys is still pending. On Monday, MacLean said he wants the entire Maine Attorney General’s Office barred from the case. He said he did not know of a time that this has happened before.

MacLean said his own investigation has revealed that the state routinely uses improper subpoenas to obtain information from sources outside of Maine.

Julio Carrillo entered his own plea of not guilty Monday, answering the judge in a high, cracking voice. Julio Carrillo’s court-appointed attorney has been dismissed and replaced by a private attorney, Darrick Banda.

Speaking outside the courthouse, Banda said the public has been misled by the narrative of domestic violence being espoused by Sharon Carrillo’s defense team and said a clearer picture would emerge soon.

“There’s a lot of interesting and bizarre things that we haven’t learned about this case,” Banda said, adding he is seeking medical information related to Marissa Kennedy and Sharon Carrillo. Banda declined to say whether Julio Carrillo has mental or physical disabilities.

“There’s going to be some surprises in store,” Banda said. “There’s a lot more to this story than what you’ve heard.”

MacLean agreed, to a certain extent. Sharon Carrillo’s defense attorney hinted that he knows more than Banda, saying he has already reviewed 2,000 pages of documentation related to the case.

“There are some surprises,” he said, “but … what they tend to suggest is what I’ve been saying all along, that my client has been the victim of domestic violence in the relationship.”

Maine’s Bureau of Financial Institutions issued a warning Monday about scammers posing as financial institutions to obtain consumers’ sensitive banking information.

The scammers typically send email messages that appear to be from the consumer’s financial institution, claiming that the bank or credit union is updating its online banking platform and that the consumer needs to provide verification of account information, the bureau said.

The scammers ask that the consumer click through links in the email, which direct the user to a site asking for sensitive account information. According to the bureau, the messages often threaten immediate suspension of the consumer’s access to online banking services unless the account information is provided.

Customers of several banks and credit unions in Maine have received emails related to the scam, the bureau said, and anyone with an email account is a potential target.

Bureau Superintendent Lloyd LaFountain III said consumers should never disclose bank or credit union account numbers or other personal information by email, text or phone.

“Banks and credit unions will not email, text or call customers asking them to divulge account numbers, PINs or Social Security numbers,” he said.

LaFountain said anyone who receives unexpected emails regarding online banking updates should call his or her bank or credit union directly and talk to an employee. Financial institution employees will be able to inform the consumer if the bank or credit union is currently updating its online banking system, he said. The superintendent also noted that customers should always be vigilant to protect their personal information and monitor account statements.

Consumers who suspect they have received a scam email should not click through any links in the email, LaFountain said. Clicking the link itself may expose the consumer’s personal information to scammers and harmful software.

Mainers should be on the lookout for suspicious links in emails that appear to come from financial institutions, the bureau said. Check the “From” header in any email received – if the name of the email’s sender does not match the sender’s email address, it is a sign of a potential scam attempt.

Another way to check suspicious links is to hover the cursor over the link without clicking the link itself, the bureau said. By doing so, the address for the link will appear on the consumer’s screen. If the link address shown on the screen is different from what the email says, it’s a sign of a potential scam.

J. Craig Anderson can be contacted at 791-6390 or at:

canderson@pressherald.com

Twitter: jcraiganderson

Former Portland developer Michael A. Liberty is in legal trouble again, facing charges that he and four others tricked investors into putting about $50 million into a technology startup and then using the money to pay for what federal regulators call a “lavish lifestyle.” Liberty, his wife, his Portland lawyer, a cousin, the cousin’s friend and four shell companies were all charged in a 66-page complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission in federal court in Maine.

It alleges that Liberty and his associates “engaged in a long-running fraudulent scheme using multiple fraudulent securities offerings” to entice investors to put money into what they thought were shares of Mozido, a Texas-based company that Liberty founded to provide financial services to people via their mobile phones. But instead of going to the company, the SEC said, the money was funneled into supporting Liberty’s lifestyle, including chartered flights, multimillion-dollar homes, expensive cars, movie production funding and even a dairy farm.

Liberty, 57, was a leading Portland developer in the late 1980s and was behind the 100 Middle St. office complex and the Chandler’s Wharf waterfront condominium complex in the city. The U.S. Attorney’s offices are now in 100 Middle St.

Liberty grew up in Gray, and left most of his business interests in Maine in the early 1990s after the housing market cooled off and Portland officials clamped tighter restrictions on development to protect the working waterfront. But Liberty continued to own land and have some operations in the state.

Liberty was most recently in Maine in August, when he was sentenced to four months in federal prison and fined $100,000 for a scheme that used relatives and employees to get around campaign finance laws. He served the sentence beginning in September, after delays because of an approaching hurricane and some minor damage to his house near Orlando, Florida.

In addition to the Maine case, Liberty is facing off with the SEC in Philadelphia, where the agency’s lawyers allege he hid assets to convince a federal judge to cut the size of a fine levied on him in connection with allegations that he defrauded investors, including three government pension funds, in that state. The SEC now wants him to pay the full fine of $6 million, which the judge had reduced to $600,000 after Liberty claimed his net worth was a negative $29 million.

SEC officials allege he hid assets to make it look like he was underwater financially, while he continued to live large with expensive homes and pricey vacations.

The latest case alleges that Liberty and the other defendants got investors to put money into shell companies that supposedly contained shares in Mozido that could eventually be transferred to the investors. The SEC said that, in fact, the shell companies either had no stake in Mozido or could not transfer those interests.

Liberty founded Mozido and served as chairman of global strategic initiatives for the company until last year.

According to the complaint, Liberty lied to investors about Mozido’s valuation and finances.

“They tricked investors into believing they were funding fast-growing startup companies,” the complaint said. “There were not.”

In a statement issued Monday, Liberty’s lawyer said he was “dismayed that the SEC has chosen to file this groundless complaint.”

The statement attributed to Jay Dubow of the Pepper Hamilton law firm in Philadelphia said the complaint was being reviewed and “Mr. Liberty will vigorously defend himself” and would “deny most of the substantive allegations” raised by the SEC.

The complaint also names Brittany Abbass Liberty, Liberty’s former bookkeeper and now his wife; a cousin, Rick Liberty; the cousin’s friend, Paul Hess; and George Marcus, Michael Liberty’s Portland-based lawyer.

Marcus denied the allegations through his lawyer, Dan O’Connor.

Five shell companies also are named. Also named is Xanadu Partners as a relief defendant, meaning that it holds money traceable to the individuals and shell companies, but is not necessarily alleged to have committed wrongdoing.

SEC officials in Philadelphia have said that Liberty funneled money into Xanadu to hide his wealth and finance most of his living expenses, while telling the judge he had no money.

The SEC said the individuals and the shell companies sold securities even though they weren’t registered with the SEC.

The agency alleges that Rick Liberty and Hess searched for investors, keeping bookkeeper Abbass informed of their progress. Marcus, the complaint said, provided legal advice to form the vehicles through which investments were made and also drafted legal documents that, the SEC said, “he knew misrepresented material facts and made material omissions.”

When the investments came in, the SEC charged, “Liberty, Abbass and Hess pocketed the bulk of the money raised.”

For instance, the SEC alleged, they transfered $16 million of the first $19.2 million raised into Xanadu Partners, using the money to pay creditors, court fines, settle lawsuits, finance a movie Abbass was producing, pay for interior decorating, pay for charter flights and pay for “hundreds of thousands of dollars in credit card bills,” the SEC said.

The SEC said it filed the complaint in Maine because many of the acts took part in the state, two of the shell companies were incorporated in the state, Marcus lives and practices law in Maine and the Libertys lived in Maine for part of the time the alleged scheme operated.

Some Maine investors were taken in, the SEC said.

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

emurphy@pressherald.com

Authorities in Lincoln County arrested a woman they say robbed a bank in Bristol on Monday morning.

Lt. Michael Murphy of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office identified the suspect late Monday night as April Blake, 46, of Waldoboro. She was charged with robbery.

Detectives, acting on a tip, interviewed Blake at her home and she admitted to committing the robbery, Murphy said in a statement. Cash and other evidence were seized from Blake’s home.

She was transported to the Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset, where she was being held Monday night pending her first court appearance.

Murphy said the robbery happened at 9:42 a.m. at the Bristol branch of the Damariscotta Bank and Trust, at 2578 Bristol Road. The bank is next door to C.E Reilly and Son Grocery.

Police say Blake was last seen wearing a light-colored coat over a blue, hooded sweatshirt, blue pants and sneakers. She may have been driving a red Chevrolet extended-cab pickup truck.

No weapon was displayed during the robbery and no one was hurt. Police are not disclosing the amount of cash that Blake allegedly made off with.

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office was assisted in its investigation by the Damariscotta Police Department and the K-9 unit of the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office.

State police continue to follow up on a domestic violence case Saturday in Norridgewock, in which William Hale shot and killed his wife, Marie Lancaster-Hale, in their U.S. Route 2 home, and then turned the gun on himself.

While it is clear what happened, police do not have a definitive answer about what led to the killing, according to Steve McCausland, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety.

“There was no note left behind, other than some instructions for his mother’s care, so there was not much of a written trail that was going through his mind,” McCausland said Monday in a phone interview.

Mark Belserene, administrator for the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, said in an email Monday that the cause of Lancaster-Hale’s death was a gunshot wound to the head.

“The manner is homicide,” he said. “The cause of death for William Hale: shotgun wound to the head, the manner is suicide.”

State police have not determined yet why William Hale shot his wife Marie and then himself last Saturday at their home in Norridgewock. Staff photo by David Leaming

Hale called the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office at 7:17 a.m. Saturday and said there would be two bodies at his house on Skowhegan Road, also known as U.S. Route 2, McCausland said at the time. Hale also reported an elderly woman at the home would need care.

When authorities arrived, Hale’s mother, Faye Hale, who lived at the house, was found sitting unharmed in a vehicle in the driveway, McCausland said. William Hale apparently helped his mother into the vehicle and then returned to the house, where he shot his wife, his dog and himself. Faye Hale was taken to a hospital for medical evaluation. McCausland said he did not know where she was as of Monday.

A handgun and a shotgun were recovered from inside the home Saturday, and the bodies were taken to the state medical examiner’s office in Augusta.

Friends of Marie Lancaster-Hale said Monday that she was a kind, caring woman who always put others above herself and did not deserve to die so young.

“There was nothing she wasn’t volunteering for,” said Judy Smith, of Anson.

Smith, who was grieving the loss, said she met Lancaster-Smith in 1988 when they both worked in the paper industry, and they became fast friends. Lancaster-Hale worked at Sappi for about 20 years and Madison Paper Industries about 10 years, according to Smith.

“She loved working with people, and anything she could do for somebody, she always put that first. That was Marie. She was always there to do for you. Marie could be exhausted from a 12-hour shift and go home and shower and change up and put on the most amazing Mrs. Claus outfit and go to the Children’s Home.”

Lancaster-Hale put 100 percent into anything she did, Smith said.

Marie Lancaster-Hale and Judy Smith. Photo courtesy of Judy Smith

“She could sew, she could cook, she was a crafter, a carpenter, a logger, an activist for women, she was part of a union — she was into everything. She put the rest of us to shame.”

Smith said she wanted to say something about Lancaster-Hale publicly for the many friends and family members who felt the same way about her.

“So many women contacted me and said she needs a voice,” Smith said. “She cared about people and she always put everybody before her. She had a heart on her sleeve, and when it came to the elderly or disabled, she was their voice.”

Smith said she did not want to discuss what she thought might have led to Saturday’s killing of her friend, but she said Lancaster-Hale and her husband, William, were both talented.

“They had their own workshop in the cellar of their home — hers and his,” Smith said. “She did carpentry work. She did crafts. She had a chain saw and worked in the wood yard at Sappi.”

Smith recalled a time when she had to have surgery, and Lancaster-Hale dropped everything to drive her to the hospital.

“Then I found out after I woke up, she had so many other things she had to do that day that she put on hold.”

Lancaster-Hale was also a character and could be funny, according to Smith. She loved to shop and spend time with friends.

“Marie loved life. She loved living life. She would never, ever want to be gone this way.”

She said she also was an inspiration to others.

“She was a good egg. She really, really was. I knew her soul and I knew her heart and that was Marie, really; her heart and the love she got from giving.”

A neighbor of the couple, Harrison York, said Saturday that he never imagined William Hale would shoot his wife and then himself. But York said Hale seemed to have a lot on his mind of late, including the recent death of his father, his mother’s illness and frailty and the fact that his beloved dog was old, could barely walk and needed to be put down.

York said Hale asked York’s girlfriend, Barbara Jean Hiscock, to spend time with Hale’s mother, Faye Hale.

Hiscock and Faye Hale hit it off right away as they discovered they both were from Rumford, according to Hiscock, who said she enjoyed visiting her and talking about their hometown.

For the last few months, Lancaster-Hale had worked as a paid bus driver for Kennebec Valley Community Action Program, driving mostly in the Augusta area.

Employees at the Waterville-based program learned of her death late Saturday and were shaken by the news, according to Jim Wood, transportation development director for KVCAP.

Wood said Monday that she left a good impression with everyone, and her co-workers were shocked and saddened to learn of her death.

“It’s been kind of a rough day,” he said.

Lancaster-Hale had a good sense of humor, was focused on safety and did a good job, according to Wood.

“We’re certainly going to miss her,” he said.

The 24-hour Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence helpline is 866-834-4357; the 24-hour helpline for The Family Violence Project is 877-890-7788 or 623-3569.

Amy Calder — 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @AmyCalder17

RUMFORD — A District Court judge has granted a protection from abuse order alleging sexual abuse against an Auburn lawyer who is seeking election to become the district attorney for Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford counties.

The order was requested by one of Seth Carey’s former clients, a woman who has been living at his house in Rumford.

Carey, who most recently practiced law in Rumford, recently moved his practice to Auburn.

After learning of the allegations against Carey, Maine Republican Party Chairman Demi Kouzounas called on him to end his bid for district attorney.

“We in the Maine GOP don’t believe in convicting people in the court of public opinion for political purposes, but when there are actual, credible allegations of sexual violence, they must be taken with the utmost seriousness,” Kouzounas said in a prepared statement. “Fighting domestic and sexual violence is more important than political ambition, and we’ve got to keep our priorities straight. This charge must be addressed, first and foremost, and our good people in central and western Maine should not have a cloud of doubt hovering over their heads. To ensure that, Seth Carey should withdraw from his race. It is the right and only thing to do.”

The motion for a protection from abuse order was filed against Carey, 42, at Rumford District Court last week and granted Friday.

In an email to the Sun Journal, Carey said the accusation is “100 percent a false fabrication.”

“I am very confident that this mistake of law by the judge will be corrected on appeal,” he wrote.

According to the woman’s request for the order, she believed Carey posed an “immediate and present danger” to her, and that he had sexually assaulted her in the home they shared.

The woman, who had been a client of Carey’s, moved into his home in 2017. The two reportedly have separate bedrooms.

In her affidavit in support of the order, she said, “I’ve had to put a padlock on my bedroom door to keep him from coming into my room at night.”

She said she was sexually assaulted while sitting in the living room, and that Carey once “grabbed the back of my hair and shoved my face into his private area (and) tried to drag me in his room telling me ‘I gave you a place to live, you owe me.’”

“He was my lawyer and now is using that to do whatever he wants to me,” Carey’s accuser wrote in her sworn affidavit.

At that time she moved into his home in 2017, she claims he “told me if I don’t have sex with him, he was going to throw all of my stuff out.”

According to her affidavit, she has retained messages from him proving her allegations.

“I’m at a loss of what to do about this,” she said.

According to the woman, Carey lives in Lewiston during the week and in Rumford on weekends.

She asked the court to order Carey to stop abusing her, to have no contact with her and not to come near her. She also has asked that she be allowed to remove her belongings from Carey’s house in Rumford.

The court ordered those terms and has declared that Carey must stay away from the Rumford property until May 1. He will be permitted to return to the property once before that time, with a police escort, to retrieve his personal property.

Carey also has been ordered to return private images of the woman to her, and is prohibited from further “or future” dissemination of those images.

Carey has been suspended from practicing law several times over the past 10 years, most recently in 2016, when he was suspended for two years for failing to properly discharge his professional duties. That suspension was later put on hold, allowing him to practice law, but with some restrictions.

In that case, which came before a panel of the grievance commission at the Overseers of the Bar in the fall of 2015, several Maine judges testified that Carey appeared, at times, incompetent to represent his clients in court.

He also was suspended in 2009 for six months after several lawyers and judges questioned his competence to handle criminal matters in the courtroom. He also received a two-month concurrent suspension later that year for conduct unworthy of an attorney after he attacked a puppy owned by a female acquaintance.

In addition, Carey was the subject of a harassment notice filed by the Rumford Police Department after he became aggressive and was blocked from entering the police station.

In 2016, Carey filed suit against the NFL, trying to recover draft picks lost by the New England Patriots in the wake of “Deflate-gate.”

Carey filed papers to be on the June 12 Republican primary ballot for district attorney under the name “S. Thomas Carey,” where he will face off against Alexander Willette, 29, of Lewiston.

That district attorney’s seat is currently held by Andrew Robinson, who is running unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Carey, who graduated from the Vermont Law School in 2001, is licensed to practice in Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut and the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine.

Talicia Martins

CAMDEN — The daughter of two world-famous New York ballet dancers has reached an agreement to resolve burglary charges in Camden.

Police said drugs and alcohol were factors when Talicia Martins, 21, and a friend broke into The Smoothie Shack, Francine Bistro and Camden Cone last summer.

The Bangor Daily News reported that the agreement calls for two burglary charges to be dropped and a third to be reduced if she meets stipulations including staying out of trouble for a year. Her sentence would then be capped at 35 days and her attorney could argue for a reduction.

Martins is the daughter of Darci Kistler, former principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, and Peter Martins, the ballet’s retired chief.

Richard Duest

Police have not ruled out a federal fugitive who was arrested over the weekend in Buxton as a possible suspect in the recent string of armed robberies at nine businesses in southern Maine.

Richard L. Duest, 28, of Malden, Massachusetts, was arrested Saturday on a nationwide extradition warrant – charging him with unarmed bank robbery – that had been issued by the U.S. Probation Department in Boston.

Duest, who has a distinctive neck tattoo and tattoo spots below both of his eyes, was charged with being a fugitive from justice and providing a false name to law enforcement. He was transported to the York County Jail, where he was held until Monday morning, when the U.S. Marshals Service picked him up and transported him to authorities in Massachusetts.

Duest was questioned by a Maine State Police trooper during a traffic stop on Friday in Hollis before he was arrested on Saturday and sent to jail.

The last armed robbery in the string of robberies took place on Thursday at the China Eatery restaurant in Old Orchard Beach. There have not been any more armed robberies since Duest came into contact with police.

Lt. Robert Martin, spokesman for the Portland Police Department, was asked if Duest, given his criminal record, was a suspect in the armed robberies.

“I am familiar with his arrest, but we have not connected him with anything local at this time,” Martin said in an email Sunday night.

On Monday night, Martin said there were no new developments to report in the armed robbery investigation, but he indicated that Duest is a possible suspect.

“We have not ruled him out,” Martin said in an email.

The state police trooper, Cpl. Doug Cropper, arrested Duest in Buxton on Saturday after he had pulled over a vehicle Duest was riding in Friday. Cropper was subsequently able to identify Duest as a fugitive from justice due to “the multiple visible tattoos” he had observed during the traffic stop.

In his booking photograph, which is posted on the Maine State Police Facebook page, Duest can be seen standing next to a measuring stick. He is about 5 feet 9 inches tall.

Victims in the armed robberies said the robber was between 5 feet 5 inches and 5 feet 10 inches tall. In all of the robberies, the suspect wore clothing that covered his neck, arms, and face.

The FBI on Saturday released a compilation of video surveillance footage that focused on specific articles of clothing that the man wore during each robbery.

George Robert Sproul Jr.

A Bridgton man was arrested late Monday night after leading police on a chase in a stolen U-Haul pickup truck.

A Bridgton police officer attempted to stop a pickup truck for speeding on Route 107, but the driver took off at a high rate of speed, according to police.

Officers determined the operator of the truck, 25-year-old George Sproul, was wanted in connection with an active burglary investigation being conducted by Maine State Police.

Deputies from the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office spotted the truck driving on Route 107 near Long Hill Road in Sebago. Sproul again refused to stop and led deputies on a high-speed chase, police said.

Sproul surrendered after a spike mat set out on Route 113 in Standish flattened three of the four tires on the truck.

Police say Sproul’s friend rented the U-Haul in Auburn, but it was reported stolen when it was not returned. Deputies say someone had attempted to paint the truck black to hide the U-Haul logos.

Sproul was charged with eluding, reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon, driving to endanger, criminal speed and a probation revocation warrant. He is being held without bail at Cumberland County Jail.

This was the third pursuit in Standish in just over five months that involved a stolen U-Haul truck. The other two chases involved trucks stolen from the Portland U-Haul store by a local man.

BOSTON — The lawyer for former Maine House Speaker Mark Eves told a panel of federal judges Tuesday that his lawsuit alleging that Gov. Paul LePage violated his constitutional rights should go forward because of the governor’s threats to Eves’ employer.

Eves was fired in 2016 as president of the Goodwill-Hinckley School after LePage threatened to withhold funding for the Maine Academy of Natural Science, a public charter school for at-risk students run by GWH. LePage said the board should not have hired Eves because of the lawmaker’s previous opposition to charter schools.

Eves’ lawyer, David Webber, asked the full 1st Circuit Court of Appeals to override a lower court finding that LePage had immunity to lawsuits based on his authority as governor over state funding.

Mark Eves talk to reporters outside the federal courthouse in Boston Tuesday. His lawyer, David Webbert, looks on. Staff photo by Edward D. Murphy

A panel of three federal appeals judges agreed with the lower court, but the full 1st Circuit then voted to hear the case again before the full court. Such steps are rare and only happen, on average, less than once a year in the 1st Circuit.

Webber said the unusual arrangement between Goodwill-Hinkley and the academy — a private school operating a public charter school — meant LePage was threatening a private institution when he demanded that Eves be fired.

But LePage’s lawyer, Patrick Strawbridge, argued that LePage was within his power to say he wanted to restrict discretionary funds.

There’s no timetable for the court to issue a decision.

This story will be updated.

SKOWHEGAN — It took game warden Alan Curtis and his search dog Sig only 4 or 5 minutes Sept. 20, 2016, for the dog to hit on human remains behind Luc Tieman’s parents’ house on Norridgewock Road in Fairfield.

A patch of black fabric and a part of a shoe or boot were visible 250 yards down an ATV trail.

Sig had indicated the presence of a decomposed body.

“It was buried,” Curtis testified Tuesday morning on the second day of the murder trial of Luc Tieman in Somerset County Superior Court in Skowhegan.

The body was that of Tieman’s wife, Valerie.

A disabled U.S. Army veteran, Tieman, 34, is charged with intentional or knowing murder in the death of his wife, Valerie Tieman, and faces 25 years to life in prison if he is found guilty of murder. Tieman, who served in Iraq and reportedly suffers from severe post-traumatic stress disorder, has pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Sgt. Scott Bryant of the Maine State Police Evidence Response Team testified Tuesday morning that investigators slowly unearthed the body once it was located, saving the soil for further evidence collection.

Inside the 3-foot-wide shallow grave police found a mason jar containing flower stems and a wedding band near Valerie Tieman’s head, Bryant told the jury of eight men and six women before Justice Robert Mullen. Bryant said he took off his own ring and held it next to the one found in the grave. “It was larger than mine,” he said.

Also found near Valerie Tieman’s head was a handwritten note on an index card.

The note opened with the words “To my Joy-Joy. Flower. Forever.”

Bryant read from the note in court Tuesday morning. The words were: “I love you Valerie Joy T. Rest in peace. My heart in Jesus,” with x and o, “hugs,” exclamation points, and an apparent reference to his marriage nickname “Luc-e” The Bear.

That note had very similar language to other notes found among Valerie Tieman’s possessions taken from the Tieman home at 628 Norridgewock Road in Fairfield by a Waterville Walmart loss prevention and theft specialist at the request of Valerie’s parents in September 2016.

Those notes, apparently saved by Valerie as a marriage memento, had the words “joy-joy,” “Our lives connected by Jesus,” “I love you forever,” and “Luc-e” Bear.”

Those notes were dated March 2, 2015.

Bryant testified Tuesday morning that Valerie Tieman’s body was found wrapped in an orange, black and white blanket with the mason jar “near her head.”

Under the body, Bryant testified, police found a potato chip bag, sweet tarts, a plaid shirt and a blue and gold woven knit hat.

The autopsy report, released to the media in September 2016, said police also found a note that reportedly had an “apologetic tone.”

Bryant said investigators found blood evidence on Walmart receipts inside Luc Tieman’s red Chevy pickup truck and on the fender and bumper of the truck, as well as in the back seat and on the truck’s glove box handle and door handle.

The murder is alleged to have taken place Aug. 25 — 15 days before Valerie’s parents reported her missing and five days before Tieman claimed his wife disappeared Aug. 30 from the Walmart parking lot in Skowhegan, but he did not report her missing.

Luc Tieman initially told police his wife disappeared from his pickup truck outside Walmart, but later said she died of a drug overdose.

An autopsy report from the state medical examiner’s office says opiates were found in Valerie’s blood, but that she died of two gunshot wounds, one to the head and one to the neck, from a semi-automatic pistol found by police in Luc Tieman’s parents’ home in Fairfield.

This story will be updated

Doug Harlow — 612-2367

dharlow@centralmaine.com

Twitter:@Doug_Harlow

IN ANSON, Tuesday at 9:57 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on West Mills Road.

IN CARRABASSETT VALLEY, Monday at 4:02 a.m., a disturbance was reported on Birchwood Lane.

IN CLINTON, Monday at 6:39 p.m., theft was reported on Hinckley Road.

IN FAIRFIELD, Monday at 2:10 p.m., threatening was reported on Main Street.

Tuesday at 2 a.m., a disturbance was reported on Center Road.

7:56 a.m., a harassment complaint was taken on Kennebec Street.

IN JAY, Monday at 12:58 a.m., a missing person was reported on Bridge Street.

2:10 p.m., a domestic disturbance was reported on Church Street.

3:02 p.m., harassment was reported on Murphy’s Lane.

3:10 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Murphy’s Lane.

3:18 p.m., theft was reported on Main Street.

8:41 p.m., harassment was reported on Bridge Street.

IN KINGFIELD, Monday at 2:04 p.m., a missing person was reported on Main Street.

IN MADISON, Tuesday at 1:34 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on Lakewood Road.

IN NORRIDGEWOCK, Tuesday at 3:33 a.m., trespassing was reported on Walnut Drive.

IN OAKLAND, Monday at 6:03 p.m., criminal mischief was reported on Smithfield Road.

IN PHILLIPS, Monday at 6:31 a.m., a domestic disturbance was reported on River Road.

IN SKOWHEGAN, Monday at 12:29 p.m., a domestic disturbance was reported on Canaan Road.

5:53 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Madison Avenue.

9:12 p.m., an intoxicated person was reported on Waye Street.

IN WATERVILLE, Monday at 10:14 a.m., theft was reported on Elm Street.

10:16 a.m., harassment was reported on Veteran Court.

12:25 p.m., a domestic dispute was reported on Ticonic Street.

2:20 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Elm Street.

2:28 p.m., theft was reported on Pleasant Street.

2:56 p.m., a noise complaint was taken on May Street.

3:04 p.m., a missing person was reported on College Avenue.

5:14 p.m., shoplifting was reported on Kennedy Memorial Drive.

5:27 p.m., a domestic dispute was reported on Front Street.

6:39 p.m., a disturbance was reported on Elm Street.

7:36 p.m., a noise complaint was taken on Green Street.

8:24 p.m., a domestic dispute was reported on College Avenue.

8:50 p.m., an unwanted person was reported on Main Street.

8:52 p.m., theft was reported on Elm Street.

9:12 p.m., an unwanted person was reported on College Avenue.

IN WILTON, Monday at 5:16 p.m., theft was reported on U.S. Route 2 East.

10:08 p.m., vandalism was reported on Main Street.

IN WINSLOW, Monday at 2:05 p.m., harassment was reported on Clinton Avenue.

ARRESTS

IN FAIRFIELD, Tuesday at 2 a.m., Christopher Brown, 43, of Skowhegan, was arrested on a charge of domestic violence assault.

IN SOMERSET COUNTY, Monday at 12:11 p.m., Cole Cannon Verville, 20, of Skowhegan, was arrested on a charge of operating after suspension.

11:01 p.m., Marvin Johnson, 36, of Nescopeck, Pennsylvania, was arrested on charges of being a fugitive from justice and operating without a license.

Tuesday at 1:01 a.m., Rex Dennet Hinerman, 62, of Madison, was arrested on charges of unlawful possession of scheduled drugs, attaching false plates, operating under the influence and operating after revocation.

3:58 a.m., Christopher Brown, 43, of Skowhegan, was arrested on a charge of domestic violence.

IN WATERVILLE, Monday at 3:34 p.m., Sonya Marie Engelhardt, 41, of Waterville, was arrested on a warrant.

6:39 p.m., Paul Fay, 33, of Waterville, was arrested on a charge of criminal trespass.

9:37 p.m., Cameron O’Neil Bouchard, 23, of Waterville, was arrested on a charge of violating conditions of release.

11:48 p.m., Melissa Roye, 31, of Oakland, was arrested on charges of unlawful possession of scheduled drugs and use of drug paraphernalia.

11:48 p.m., Crystal Theresa Cougle, 25, of Waterville, was arrested on a charge of violating conditions of release.

IN WINSLOW, Monday at 6:19 p.m., Charles Gilbert Spaulding, 46, of Winslow, was arrested on a charge of operating with a suspended or revoked license.

SUMMONSES

IN FAIRFIELD, Tuesday at 2 a.m., Penny Carver, 46, of Skowhegan, was summonsed on a charge of unlawful possession of a scheduled drug.

IN WATERVILLE, Monday at 5:14 p.m., Scott Clark, 37, of Waterville, was summonsed on a charge of theft by unauthorized taking or transfer on Kennedy Memorial Drive.

SKOWHEGAN — A Madison man who claimed he was not the driver of a van that crashed into a police cruiser was charged with operating under the influence Monday night.

Police Chief David Bucknam said a police officer was conducting routine traffic enforcement on Waterville Road around 11:30 p.m. Monday. The officer noticed a van with its tail lights out and attempted to stop it, but the driver accelerated on Walnut Street. The driver of the van turned into the New Balance outlet building, which is a one-way entrance. The officer went to the exit to stop the van. Coming up to the van, the officer noticed the only occupant was a male in the passenger seat, allegedly holding the wheel with his left hand and waving his right hand.

“The vehicle continued towards the officer and struck the driver’s side door and front corner panel of the police vehicle,” Bucknam said.

The occupant of the van was identified as Rex Hinerman, 62, of Madison.

Police questioned Hinerman, who said that another man had been driving the van, but he didn’t know who the man was, and that the man had gotten out of the vehicle and taken off running. Hinerman said he wasn’t driving because he didn’t have a license.

State police were called in to have one of their dogs check the car, Bucknam said, and police were able to determine that Hinerman was the only occupant in the van.

Hinerman allegedly had two different license plates attached to the van, one ending in 320 and the other ending in 321.

Hinerman was charged with unlawful possession of scheduled drugs, attaching false plates, operating under the influence and operating after revocation.

Bucknam did not know what kind of drugs Hinerman had when he was arrested. In the Somerset County jail booking logs, they are listed as schedule Z drugs, which are less serious drugs, such as marijuana.

Hinerman was still in jail Tuesday at noon, and his bail was set at $160 cash. Bucknam said the police cruiser sustained only cosmetic damage, and the driver’s side door had trouble opening and closing. There were no injuries reported.

It was a busy Monday for Skowhegan police, as earlier in the day they were lead on an hour-and-a-half chase trying to catch a 600-pound bull that had escaped its trailer while on the way to the butcher. The bull ultimately ended up in the Kennebec River. It was fatally shot by police as it headed toward a crowd of onlookers.

Colin Ellis — 861-9253

cellis@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @colinoellis