Three people from Sanford accused of beating a man and attempting to extort an undisclosed sum of money from him have been indicted by a York County grand jury.

Shantel Rodriguez, 25, Dylan Austin, 26, and Cody Boudreau, 22, are alleged to have lured Justin Richardson to an Emery Street apartment Jan. 11 and held him for several hours and forced him to make phone calls looking for cash.

Boudreau and Austin are both charged with kidnapping, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, assault, criminal threatening with a weapon, terrorizing and theft less than $500.

Rodriguez is charged with kidnapping, aggravated assault, two counts of assault, criminal threatening with a weapon, terrorizing and theft of less than $500.

The plot to extract the money from Richardson surfaced when Richardson’s mother called 911 in Sanford to report that her son was apparently being held against his will and that his captors were demanding money.

Police received at least two other calls from people on Emery Street who reported there was an injured man on the block.

When officers arrived, they found Richardson had a stab wound to his chest, and he was rushed to Maine Medical Center where he underwent emergency heart surgery.

Matt Byrne can be contacted at 791-6303 or at:

mbyrne@pressherald.com

Twitter: MattByrnePPH

BANGOR — For illegally receiving and shipping firearms to Romania, Iulian Petre was sentenced Thursday to 24 months in federal prison.

Petre, 51, also known as Julian Petre, formerly of Waterville and more recently of Winslow, was convicted by a jury of nine firearms-related charges and was cleared of seven charges — including money laundering and smuggling — on Aug. 28, 2017, in U.S. District Court in Bangor.

He has been free on bail pending sentencing, and on Thursday the judge gave him 60 days to report to prison.

U.S. District Court Judge John A. Woodcock Jr. said he wanted to place the offenses in context, saying a small number of firearms was involved and “the defendant is not … an international arms dealer of any kind of scale.”

Even so, Woodcock warned Petre that the conviction prohibits him from possessing any firearms.

“Your firearms days are over, and if they’re not over, you will go back to jail,” the judge said.

Before the hearing, Petre’s attorney, Jeremy Pratt, said he was hoping for “the absolute minimal sentence the court is willing to impose.”

The prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Ruge, said the guideline sentence for the offenses was 41 to 51 months, but that the judge would decide whether that number should be higher.

Petre answered a number of questions from the judge but did not speak further. Pratt said an appeal is planned based on a ruling involving serial numbers on the firearms found in Romania.

Afterward, Petre and his attorney declined requests to take a photo of Petre and for further comment on the case.

In sentencing memos filed with the court, Ruge wrote: “Here, the evidence proves that Mr. Petre illegally possessed, received, and distributed more than eight firearms in the course of conduct relevant to the crimes of conviction. The defendant was convicted of conduct involving no fewer than seven firearms.”

He asked that Woodcock “find that the defendant illegally received, possessed, and shipped no fewer than 13 firearms in the course of conduct relevant to the crimes of conviction, and impose the appropriate four-level enhancement.”

At the 2.5-hour hearing, Woodcock refused to do that, but he enhanced the sentence because he concluded that Petre committed perjury when he testified at his trial that he had removed the receivers — the pieces that hold the firing mechanisms — from the guns before exporting them.

“Who would buy a gun without a receiver?” Woodcock said. “It’s a useless piece of property. It’s equivalent to telling someone he sold a car without a motor.”

Woodcock also notes that the firearms were mostly shotguns and intended for hunting or personal protection.

Petre told agents at one point that he initially brought a firearm to Romania to give to his father, and when friends began to ask for them as well, and he sent them.

The prosecution said Petre purchased and received firearms from out-of-state sellers had found through the Internet and exported them to Romania but failed to follow the proper legal process.

Testimony on Thursday indicated that agents told Petre previously that to export firearms, he would need licenses through the U.S. Department of State, certification from the U.S. Department of Commerce and be licensed as a firearms dealer through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

According to various websites listing gunshops, Petre had a Title 1 dealer or gunsmith license at one point, and the address listed for the business is 263 North Pond Road, Winslow.

On Thursday, Perley “Chuck” Sasuclark, of Winslow, addressed the judge, saying he had sponsored Petre when he first came to the United States in 1989. Sasuclark said he taught Petre English and employed him, and helped him get a driver’s license and later a commercial driver’s license, and has been friends with Petre and his family ever since.

“I know Iulian to be an honest person, a man of integrity, without malice without guile,” Sasuclark said.

Petre, who became a U.S. citizen in 1995 and retains Romanian citizenship, has worked as a truck driver for various firms.

A superseding indictment charged that in the period of August 2012 to August 2013, Petre illegally shipped, transported or received 10 firearms from eight states, illegally exported three firearms, promoted money laundering by wire transfers totaling $11,980 between the United States and Romania, and smuggled the three rifles also listed in the illegal export charges.

Other documents filed in the case say Petre shipped 16 firearms to Romania from September to November 2007 via the U.S. Postal Service and filed forms about that in the Waterville post office.

Two federal agents testified Thursday about Petre’s attempt to take three firearms to Romania in his luggage in December 2007, shortly after one of them told him not to send any more firearms. They were removed from Petre’s luggage at Logan International Airport in Boston as he was departing for Bucharest, Romania, and returned to him several years later.

On Thursday, Woodcock said, “In the court’s view, if the government had moved forward in 2007, it would truly have nipped the defendant’s business in the bud.”

Betty Adams — 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @betadams

IN AUGUSTA, Wednesday at 7:21 a.m., criminal trespassing was reported on Civic Center Drive.

8:18 a.m., a well-being check was done on North Belfast Avenue.

8:38 a.m., disorderly conduct was reported on Northern Avenue.

8:57 a.m., property was recovered on Civic Center Drive.

9:04 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on Sewall Street.

9:38 a.m., a well-being check was done on Washington Street.

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

9:48 a.m., needles were recovered on Balsam and Edison drives.

10:05 a.m., disorderly conduct was reported on Northern Avenue.

11:29 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on Cony Street.

11:36 a.m., needles were recovered on State Street.

12:18 p.m., criminal mischief was reported on Pierce Drive.

12:37 p.m., criminal mischief was reported on Pierce Drive.

12:57 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Arsenal Street.

2:35 p.m., a traffic accident causing injury was reported on Eastern Avenue.

3:26 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Sewall Street.

3:45 p.m., harassment was reported on Western Avenue.

4:03 p.m., a disturbance was reported on Oxford Street.

4:28 p.m., a past burglary was reported on Water Street.

4:49 p.m., property was recovered on Cony Street.

5:11 p.m., a domestic disturbance was reported on Mount Vernon Avenue.

5:19 p.m., property was recovered on Water Street.

5:59 p.m., a mental health and well-being check was done on Bond Brook Road.

7:28 p.m., an overdose rescue was done on Bangor Street.

5:29 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Bangor Street.

7:31 p.m., a mental health and well-being check was done on Oxford and Jefferson streets.

8:31 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Hope Way.

9:47 p.m., a disturbance was reported on Northern Avenue.

11:28 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Chapel Street.

Thursday at 12:08 a.m., a disturbance was reported on Washington Street and Northern Avenue.

12:35 a.m., a disturbance was reported on Northern Avenue.

12:46 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on Water Street.

6:16 a.m., an overdose rescue was done on Allen Street.

IN CHELSEA, Wednesday at 4:51 p.m., a suspicious vehicle was reported on Windsor Road.

5:26 p.m., harassment was reported on Windsor Road.

IN MONMOUTH, Wednesday at 8:04 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on Maple Ridge Drive.

ARRESTS

IN AUGUSTA, Wednesday at 10:17 a.m., Sally L. Jenkins, 35, of Augusta, was arrested on a warrant, on Union Street.

LEWISTON — A Readfield man who served prison time as a teenager for attacking a man with an ice chopper was indicted on a slew of charges this week stemming from a dramatic foot chase with police in downtown Lewiston.

Luke Blair, 27, was indicted by the Androscoggin County grand jury Tuesday on a dozen counts, including charges of burglary, terrorizing, assaulting a police officer and aggravated criminal trespass.

On the morning of Jan. 4, police said Blair broke into a pair of apartments on Shawmut Street in Lewiston in an attempt to evade police who were trying to capture him.

At the time, Blair was wanted on charges of felony domestic assault in Kennebec County, police said, and was considered armed and dangerous.

Police said that during the chase, Blair busted his way into a pair of apartments at 34 Shawmut St., sending tenants of the building scurrying to safety.

Police ultimately forced their way into the building, capturing Blair as he tried to escape through a window. Video of the capture went viral after it was posted on the Sun Journal website.

Blair has remained jailed since.

In 2008, Blair was sent to prison for three years after he was convicted of striking a man so hard with an ice chopper that the tool became partially embedded in the man’s skull.

At the time of the 2007 attack, Blair was just two days shy of 18 years old. He was originally charged with attempted murder in that case, but ultimately entered a deal in which he agreed to plead guilty to elevated aggravated assault.

IN CAMBRIDGE, Wednesday at 5:10 p.m., a harassment complaint was taken on North Road.

IN CHINA, Wednesday at 12:03 p.m., theft was reported on Town Square Road.

IN CLINTON, Wednesday at 6:40 a.m., harassment was reported on Main Street.

6:53 p.m., threatening was reported on Elwood Drive.

8:53 p.m., harassment was reported on Diamond Avenue.

IN FAIRFIELD, Wednesday at 3:50 p.m., a domestic disturbance was reported on Main Street.

Thursday at 4:30 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on Newhall Street.

6:10 a.m., a disturbance was reported on Martin Stream Road.

10:23 a.m., theft was reported on Lawrence Avenue.

IN FARMINGTON, Wednesday at 4:28 p.m., theft was reported on Broadway.

IN KINGFIELD, Wednesday at 10:22 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Main Street.

IN OAKLAND, Wednesday at 9:17 a.m., a person was reported missing on School Bus Drive.

IN PITTSFIELD, Wednesday at 8:02 p.m., breaking and entering was reported on Nichols Street.

IN SKOWHEGAN, Wednesday at 3:36 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Pleasant Street.

3:59 p.m., a harassment complaint was taken on Madison Avenue.

7:47 p.m., breaking and entering was reported on Spring Street.

10:20 p.m., disorderly conduct was reported on Fairview Avenue.

11:10 p.m., loud noise or music was reported on Beech Street.

IN WATERVILLE, Wednesday at 7:54 a.m., a call about a fight was reported on West River Road.

9:49 a.m., threatening was reported on Highwood Street.

11:34 a.m., a drug offense was reported on Elm Court.

12:14 p.m., an unwanted person was reported on Kennedy Memorial Drive.

12:15 p.m., a disturbance was reported on Kennedy Memorial Drive.

12:44 p.m., juvenile offenses were reported on West River Road.

1:13 p.m., a disturbance was reported on Edgewood Street.

4:30 p.m., harassment was reported on Main Street.

6:04 p.m., a domestic dispute was reported on College Avenue.

10:48 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Pleasant Street.

Thursday at 5:09 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on Waterville Commons Drive.

IN WELD, Wednesday at 7:13 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Center Hill Road.

IN WILTON, Wednesday at 9:11 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on Munson Road.

7:55 p.m., theft of prescription drugs was reported on Temple Road.

10:12 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Village View Street.

IN WINSLOW, Wednesday at 2:13 p.m., harassment was reported on LaSalle Street.

2:19 p.m., theft was reported on Monument Street.

4:38 p.m., criminal mischief was reported on Eames Road.

ARRESTS

IN FRANKLIN COUNTY, Wednesday at 10:35 a.m., Linwood Lovejoy, 23, of Farmington, was arrested on a warrant.

IN SOMERSET COUNTY, Wednesday at 4:58 p.m., James McInnis, 37, of Alna, was arrested on a writ.

7:19 p.m., Devon Chapman, 21, of Skowhegan, was arrested on charges of failure to notify of a motor vehicle accident, failure to make an oral or written accident report, operating under the influence, violating conditions of release and operating with a suspended or revoked license.

Thursday at 9:17 a.m., Cody Damon, 18, of Madison, was arrested, on charges of assault, criminal threatening, disorderly conduct and refusing to submit to arrest or detention.

IN WATERVILLE, Wednesday at 12:14 p.m., Bonnie Lee French, 45, of Augusta, was arrested on a warrant.

BANGOR — A Gardiner man pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to being part of a large drug conspiracy that brought drugs from Rochester, New York, to distribute in central Maine.

Jason Folkner, 42, also known as “Crazy,” of Gardiner and Augusta, entered the plea to the conspiracy charge and began serving time for it immediately even though sentence has yet to be imposed.

U.S. District Court Judge John A. Woodcock Jr. told Folkner that was because he was found guilty of a mandatory detention crime, he must begin serving a sentence immediately even though it has yet to be imposed.

Folkner has been in custody since his arrest on the indictment June 25, 2017.

According to the prosecution, Folkner was part of the conspiracy that existed from June 14, 2015, and March 9, 2017, with the intent to possess with intent to distribute cocaine base, heroin and fentanyl.

In all, 16 people from central Maine and from Rochester, New York, are charged in the conspiracy, and several others have pleaded guilty to conspiracy or related crimes.

Among them are 30-year-old Diana Davis, also known as “Little C” and “CC”; and her brother, Frankie Dejesus, 28, both of Rochester, New York. The two were involved in a gunfire incident June 26, 2016, in the Augusta Walmart parking lot, which Augusta police said was drug-related and which was broken up by armed by-standers.

Folkner’s attorney, Jeffrey Silverstein, said he was satisfied that the evidence could lead to Folkner’s conviction at trial “based upon the disclosures I’ve been exposed to.”

The prosecution’s version of events says Folkner “allowed drug dealers from Rochester stay in his residence and use his residence as a ‘trap house,’ that is, a location where drug customers would come to purchase drugs from members of the conspiracy.” The same document said Folkner himself sold heroin and cocaine base and drove others to pick up and deliver drugs and money, and allowed a Rochester dealer to sell the drugs from Folkner’s Gardiner residence.

At one point Thursday, Folkner told the judge, “I was only involved in it for a couple of weeks.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jody Mullis and Silverstein told the judge there was no agreement on a sentencing recommendation.

Woodcock warned Folkner that he would sentence him according to federal guidelines and other material he receives.

Documents filed in the case against a co-defendant, Brent “Herc” Hercules, of Rochester, say, “There were approximately 12-15 such (trap-houses) throughout central Maine during the height of the conspiracy’s activities. The individuals who lived in these residences were paid in cocaine base or heroin for allowing the Rochester individuals to stay in the residences and sell narcotics.”

Proceeds from sales were sent “to the head of the conspiracy in Rochester, Darrell Newton.” Hercules served as driver for Newton, who is also known as Coast, the document says.

Hercules is scheduled for set for a “change of plea” hearing April 11 in Bangor. He previously pleaded not guilty to the conspiracy charge.

Amanda Ware, 31, of Sidney, pleaded guilty to using/maintaining a drug-involved premises and aiding and abetting last month. The conspiracy charge against her was dismissed by the government.

Betty Adams — 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @betadams

SKOWHEGAN — Ever since his arrest on charges of murdering his wife in 2016, Luc Tieman, of Fairfield, in audio recordings with detectives played for the jury in court Thursday, has denied shooting her to death.

State police investigators call it “Luc’s list of lies.”

Valerie Tieman

His defense attorney, Stephen Smith, tried to divert attention Thursday from his client to Tieman’s brother, Sam Tieman, as someone who could have killed Valerie Tieman.

Sam Tieman, now 28, was working construction in August 2016 at Sugarloaf, just 90 minutes from the Tieman home he shared with his parents and Luc and Valerie, Smith told the jury of eight men and six women. The tools allegedly used to dig Valerie’s shallow grave were Sam’s tools. He operated a landscape business, had a history of drug use and had taken drugs — injecting the narcotic Percocet — with his brother and his wife, Smith noted.

Assistant Attorney General Leanne Robbin, one of two prosecutors in the case, dismissed the insinuation, noting that Sam didn’t have a license to drive and went to work at the mountain for the entire week, driven there by his boss. The tools were in an unlocked shed on the Tieman property.

“Everybody had access to those tools,” Robbin said.

Sam Tieman took the stand Thursday, the fourth day of Tieman’s murder trial, before Justice Robert Mullen in Somerset County Superior Court. He testified that he first learned of Valerie’s death from police and that around the time police say Valerie was killed, Luc had sent him a text message saying: “Valerie left me, bro.”

“My brother accused me of helping bury the body,” he said on the stand, noting that he wanted to confront Luc Tieman because of that.

Sam Tieman said he did not help with the burial and had no information on Valerie’s death.

As he left the stand Thursday, Sam Tieman walked right by his brother seated at the defendant’s table, not looking at him and not exhibiting any body language.

Luc Tieman did not look up.

Luc Tieman told police on Sept. 20, 2016, the day his wife’s body was found behind his parents’ home on Norridgewock Road in Fairfield, that Valerie, who was 34, had died from a heroin overdose. He said he had brought her the heroin and that she had died, smiling at him, after injecting the drug herself.

There was no evidence of heroin found in Valerie’s body.

Drugs were found in Valerie’s body during an autopsy performed Sept. 21, 2016, but the drugs did not kill her.

Two gunshot wounds to the head and neck were the cause of death. The medical examiner who testified Wednesday said she couldn’t tell which bullet was fired first, but that each of the shots would have killed Valerie.

Police and prosecutors charge that Valerie died about Aug. 25, 2016, and was buried by Luc Tieman in a shallow grave behind his parents’ house at 628 Norridgewock Road in Fairfield. In her grave were personal items including a bottle of Gucci perfume called Guilty and a handwritten note with the name “Luc-e,” which matched the name in other notes Valerie had saved as marriage mementoes.

Detectives also testified they found a .45-caliber handgun and ammunition on Sept. 20, 2016, inside the Tieman home.

In the eyes of Maine State Police detectives in audio recordings played for the jury Thursday, Luc Tieman was either a conniving, jealous husband who was cheating on his wife, or a husband who loved his wife so much that he couldn’t live without her.

“You already told us you buried her. So what else could have happened?” Detective Jason Andrews can be heard asking Tieman on Sept. 21, the day he was arrested, on one of the recordings played Thursday. “Is it possible you loved her so much you killed her so she wouldn’t leave you? At what point did you shoot her?”

Investigators with the Maine State Police and Maine Warden’s Service look for evidence in the death of Valerie Tieman, whose body was found Sept. 20, 2016, in the woods behind 628 Norridgewock Road in Fairfield. Staff file photo by Michael G. Seamans

Tieman held his ground, as he has all the way to pleading not guilty to murder and putting his fate before a judge and jury.

“I did not kill my wife, Valerie Joy Tieman,” he can be heard telling police. “I loved her like Christ loved the church. If I killed my wife, why would I leave a note?”

The trial opened Thursday with a video taken from Luc Tieman’s cellphone provided by Dawn Ego, of the state police computer crimes unit. The video shows Tieman talking to the camera from inside his truck with a blanket draped over the driver’s seat. The blanket appeared to be the same one presented earlier this week as the one that Valerie was wrapped in when she was buried.

The rest of Thursday morning and early afternoon was devoted to cellphone records and discussions between the judge and the attorneys — some without the jury present in the courtroom — on the admissibility of text and Facebook messages as evidence.

Smith argued the messages were not evidence but “hearsay upon hearsay.”

Mullen disagreed and allowed the messages provided by Detective Scott Quintero to be used as evidence against Tieman.

Maine State Police Sgt. Kyle Willette, left, leaves the Somerset County Superior Court on Thursday in Skowhegan after testifying about phone and Facebook records involving communication between Luc and Valerie Tieman and others during Luc Tieman’s trial for the murder of his wife. Staff photo by David Leaming

State police Sgt. Kyle Willette then played a PowerPoint presentation about cellphones that lasted well into the afternoon, with cellphone records of calls made to Luc Tieman by women, and calls by him to them. Among them was the woman he referred to as his “rebound girl” after he said his wife disappeared Aug. 30 from the Skowhegan Walmart parking lot, the woman he moved in with two days later.

The killing 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 had disappeared, although he did not report her missing.

The Walmart story is among the police investigators’ “list of lies,” which also includes stories of camping sites he and Valerie had visited, the drug overdose death and Valerie’s “other man,” police said.

The trial is scheduled to continue at 9 a.m. Friday. So far, the defense has yet to call any witnesses.

Doug Harlow — 612-2367

dharlow@centralmaine.com

Twitter:@Doug_Harlow–

A 22-year-old York man has been charged with 11 federal crimes for allegedly sending phony emails that purported to be from college professors and police officers containing lewd images, racist statements and threats of violence, court records show.

Austin Santoro, of Cider Hill Road in York, was arrested March 29 by an agent from the Department of Homeland Security following an investigation into 36 emails sent between Dec. 21 and Jan. 30 to police officers from Kittery; Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and to educators at Boston University and York County Community College, according to documents unsealed in the U.S. District Court of Maine.

Messages also were sent to members of the York town government and York public schools.

According to court records, Santoro had some connection to most of those he targeted; some appeared to have played a role in a negative episode in his life, including a police officer who arrested him for OUI in 2017 and a college professor who failed him in an online course.

Santoro faces five counts of transmitting threatening interstate communications, two counts of maliciously conveying false information concerning the use of an explosive, and three counts of identity theft. Each count carries a potential penalty of five to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000.

Special Agent Derek Dunn tracked down Santoro by closely examining the email message headers, which contain technical information about where the messages originated and how they were routed.

The Czech website that Santoro used then turned over more detailed records about the 36 messages, which led to Santoro. A search of Santoro’s computer and phone revealed Google searches that appear to correspond with the people and organizations and other corroborating information.

Santoro was held until Tuesday, when he was released on an unsecured bond of $10,000 after a court appearance. He was released on condition that he surrender his passport and not commit any new crimes, submit to medical or psychiatric treatment as directed and take any medications prescribed by a doctor, among other stipulations. It was unclear when he would be back in court.

The email messages contained bomb threats, rape threats, racial slurs and statements supporting white supremacy, according to affidavits submitted by Dunn of the DHS office in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Santoro allegedly used a website based in the Czech Republic that allows users to send email messages that at first glance appear to have been sent from another email account that is selected by a user.

In some cases, the emails purported to be from one police officer to a group of other officers. One message appeared to impersonate the owner of a local business near Santoro’s home, and was sent to police.

“Hi guys,” read the Dec. 26 message to three York police officers from the unnamed business owner, according to court records. “Just wanted to say hello and send some pictures of my penis. One of those days.”

The email contained three images of male genitalia, according to court records.

York police had responded to Santoro’s home on Oct. 5, after Santoro got into an argument with his father and drove away in his mother’s SUV.

In a message that purported to be from Portsmouth Police Chief Robert Merner, the sender said a bomb had been placed in the building.

“Bim bam boom!” the message read. “There’s a bomb in the building! Come find it before it goes off! Thanks, Robert Merner.”

In another message that appeared to have been sent by one Kittery police officer to two others, the sender discussed his hatred for African Americans and Jewish people using slurs.

“Exterminate the mud races! The white race will preservere (sic)!” the message read.

Kittery police had arrested Santoro in July 2017 for operating under the influence.

“All of the emails sent to KPD email addresses purported to come from the KPD officer who had arrested Austin Santoro,” Dunn wrote.

Messages sent to people affiliated with York County Community College were purportedly sent by a professor who had given Santoro a failing grade.

Similar messages were sent to people connected to Boston University, including professors. Santoro was arrested for assaulting his roommate in March of 2016.

Matt Byrne can be contacted at 791-6303 or at:

mbyrne@pressherald.com

Twitter: MattByrnePPH

SKOWHEGAN — Somerset County Sheriff’s detectives seized over 55 grams of crack cocaine from a home on Madison Avenue on March 30 and later arrested three individuals on drug charges.

According to a news release from Sheriff Dale Lancaster, detectives executed a drug search warrant at the residence of Nicole Morse and Lisa Staples on Madison Avenue at 1:15 p.m. March 30. The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency and Skowhegan Police Department assisted the sheriff’s deputies and detectives.

During the search, over 55 grams of crack cocaine, $2,240 in cash, several digital scales, drug packaging material, drug related paraphernalia, drug related documentation and controlled pills were seized. The cocaine has an approximate street value of $5,500.

Davon Bell, 31, of Rochester, New York, was arrested and charged with aggravated trafficking in a schedule W drug and possession of a schedule W drug. The drug trafficking charges against Bell are aggravated, because of the amount of crack cocaine seized — over 32 grams — and Bell has prior felony drug convictions in New York.

Bell is being held at the Somerset County Jail on $100,000 cash bail. He is scheduled to appear in court on June 13.

On Monday, April 2, Lisa Staples, 54, of Skowhegan, was charged with aggravated trafficking in cocaine, unlawful furnishing of cocaine and unlawful possession of cocaine.

The following day, Nicole Morse, 32, of Skowhegan, was arrested on charges of aggravated trafficking in cocaine, unlawful furnishing of cocaine and unlawful possession of cocaine.

Both are scheduled to appear in court on July 11.

Colin Ellis — 861-9253

cellis@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @colinoellis

A Sabattus woman filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday, claiming she was forced in November 2016 to kneel in a cage – covered in her own urine, blood and vomit – during her five-day extradition from Florida to Maine.

Meghan Quinn, 35, filed a 16-page complaint at U.S. District Court against U.S. Prisoner Transport of Florida; its parent company, Prisoner Transport Systems of America of Tennessee; the two drivers of the van; and Androscoggin County and its district attorney.

U.S. Prisoner Transport of Florida is a private company, based in Melbourne, Florida, that delivers prisoners throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The story of Quinn’s extradition from Kissimmee, Florida, to Auburn, Maine, was the subject of a special Sun Journal investigative report published in March 2017.

In that story, Quinn, who was being extradited to Maine on a probation violation for a forgery charge, and a male prisoner in the same transport van claimed she was kept in a cage in an unheated area in the back of a van, and was made to sit in her menstrual blood, defecate in a burger wrapper and urinate in a Ziploc bag in front of male prisoners. Quinn also says she suffered a broken nose while confined in the cage.

Since the Sun Journal’s publication of Quinn’s description of the abuse, county prosecutors in Maine who used the private transport company that extradited her have stopped contracting with that company.

Most offices had used the company for years.

Androscoggin County District Attorney Andrew Robinson, who authorized that Quinn be transported, immediately suspended the county’s contracts with the company, saying his office had never received a complaint about the business in more than a decade of service.

During the five-day trip the week of Thanksgiving, Quinn was allowed out of her cage three times to use a bathroom and stretch her legs, according to the complaint that alleges seven counts, including negligent supervision and hiring, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, civil rights violation and negligence.

Meanwhile, two others transported by U.S. Prisoner Transport have filed notice to sue the company because of similar experiences during extradition, including a man who rode in the same van as Quinn, according to Verne Paradie, a Lewiston lawyer representing them. A third man is expected to file notice soon, Paradie said Thursday.

Quinn’s lawsuit, filed by lawyer Benjamin Donahue of Portland, claims she suffered permanent physical injuries from “severely” tightened ankle shackles that cut into her skin to the bone and became infected by the bodily fluids that ran down her legs, leaving prominent scars.

Quinn also said she suffered a broken nose when the van’s driver slammed on the brakes while traveling at highway speeds in response to her complaints about her clothing becoming bloodied during her menstrual cycle.

“Humiliated, vomiting and crying hysterically, Meghan begged the drivers to help her,” the lawsuit reads.

Instead of helping, the driver became annoyed and slammed on the van’s brakes.

Her broken nose healed improperly because of a lack of adequate medical care at Androscoggin County Jail in Auburn, according to the complaint.

“Now, over a year later, her treatment requires re-breaking her facial bones to ensure full recovery,” according to the lawsuit, which also includes that Quinn has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety.

The complaint chronicles the inhumane treatment Quinn endured as she was locked in a “dog cage” in the back of a modified, 15-passenger van, a “heavy chain around her waist, handcuffs on wrists and overtightened shackles on her legs,” while the drivers “refused to provide for her most basic human needs” during her five-day trip.

According to the lawsuit: The van zigzagged up the East Coast, dropping off and picking up mostly male prisoners, seldom stopping in an effort to boost revenues. Quinn was forced to urinate, defecate and menstruate in full view of the male prisoners during her trip. The stench of her bodily fluids caused her to vomit, and she was then forced to kneel in that vomit. Quinn was also threatened with a Taser and mace when she showed reluctance to return to the van in those conditions.

Near the end of the trip, one of the drivers agreed to provide her with leggings because “the guards became concerned that Meghan’s appearance would cause problems when they arrived.”

When a police officer at a secure facility, where she was told to change, “tried to remove Meghan’s blood, vomit and urine-caked pants, however, she had to cut them off because they had adhered to her skin.”

By the time Quinn had arrived at the Androscoggin County Jail, she “needed serious medical attention,” according to the complaint.

The cage in which Quinn was confined lacked heat. She had been dressed in only pants and a tank top when she left Florida. The drivers rejected her repeated pleas for a blanket or “anything to stay warm.”

Quinn was able to see her breath and the cold metal of the cage “froze her skin on contact,” according to the complaint. She “became hypothermic and began violently shaking.”

cwilliams@sunjournal.com

PARIS – The State Fire Marshal’s Office charged a Fryeburg woman Thursday with two counts of arson after discovering that she set fire to her old house in Stow on March 11.

Sara Neddenriep Photo courtesy of the Oxford County Jail

Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, said that Sara Neddenriep, 46, formerly from 1092 Stow Road, was arrested Thursday at a friend’s house in Fryeburg and taken to Oxford County Jail.

She was held on $50,000 cash bail and will make an initial appearance at South Paris District Court on Friday.

McCausland said that Neddenriep had lived at her house in Stow with her 16-year old daughter before setting the fire.

No one was injured during the fire, but the house was destroyed.

McCausland said that the State Fire Marshal’s Office was assisted by the Fryeburg Police Department during the arrest, and that the Saco Valley Fire Association and mutual aid fire departments responded to the fire March 11.

This story will be updated.

OXFORD — Interim Police Chief Michael Ward was sworn in Thursday night as Oxford’s permanent police chief at the Board of Selectmen meeting.

Ward will oversee seven full-time and four part-time officers.

The board unanimously accepted Town Manager Butch Asselin’s recommendation of the former lieutenant to lead the department.

The Oxford native succeeds Jon Tibbetts, a 23-year veteran of the department who stepped down March 29.

Ward, 53, has worked for the department for a decade, and as interim chief since Tibbetts’ departure.

Ward was promoted from an Oxford detective sergeant to a lieutenant in 2010. The Oxford native said at that time his goal was to someday become police chief.

He began working in law enforcement in 1987. He served as a corrections officer, dispatcher and reserve officer with the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office. In 1988, he became a full-time deputy with the department, serving as contract deputy for Poland from 1988 to 1990.

From 1998 to 2003, Ward worked for the Mechanic Falls Police Department as a sergeant.

After a brief stint as manager of the Poland Spring House, Ward returned to police work in 2005 as a reserve officer with the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office and Oxford Police Department.

He began working as a patrol officer with the Oxford Police Department in 2006, became the chief deputy of the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office and returned to Oxford in January 2009 to become a detective sergeant in charge of investigations in the newly created position.

Ward was one of three candidates for the position of Oxford County sheriff this year.

It has been nearly two and a half years since Daria Goggins’ Holsteins were killed in Richmond and she’s still looking for answers.

Goggins announced this week she’s doubling the reward for information — from $2,500 to $5,000 — leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever is responsible for killing her pet cows, Isadora and Theodore. She has also set up a private tip line, 629-8766, and any tips that come in will be investigated by the private investigator she has retained.

“Most people would let this go,” Goggins said Friday. “But that’s not my personality. I really want justice. It’s so important to me.”

The Richmond Police Department investigated the animal killings.

“This was an intentional act. Someone went there with the intention to inflict harm on those animals,” Richmond Police Sgt. James Donnell said Friday. “We would love to solve this.”

Sometime on the afternoon of Friday, Nov. 20, 2015, one or more people lured twins Theodore and Isadora out of their pasture on Savage Road in Richmond and shot each cow once with an arrow from either a crossbow or a compound bow.

It had been raining that day, and the contractors who had been working on the property were not there.

Goggins and her brother Mark had gone to Lewiston to drop off a vehicle to be detailed. When they headed out again from Richmond to pick it up when it was done, Goggins said she noticed the Holsteins weren’t where she expected them to be. When they investigated, they found the lock on the gate to the cows’ paddock had been cut. And then they found the 12-year-old cows, who had been led from their pasture, by a stone wall that ran along the back end of the property.

“When farm animals get killed, people say it must have been bored teenagers or someone who enjoys killing animals,” she said.

But Goggins said she thinks the killing of her Holsteins was a crime of revenge or retaliation.

At the time, police were looking for anyone who had noticed a 2000 green Dodge 2500 extended cab pickup with tinted windows in the back, and they said they had identified two persons of interest who were not considered suspects.

In the wake of the killings, Goggins’ life was changed dramatically. She said she was in a self-imposed house arrest for a year. During that time, she met and befriended a number of people involved in horse rescue, and she started getting involved. To date, she has rescued 16 horses. She also has more cows, and 10 lambs she bought from the lamb sale at the Windsor Fair and has raised.

“You might say I have overcompensated, but nonetheless, the animals are safe here and well cared for,” she said.

Goggins had initially put up $2,500 as a reward for information and the Richmond police asked anyone with information to contact the department. This time around, she said, she thinks people may feel more comfortable calling an anonymous tip line. And this time, she’ll have direct access to any tips that come in.

She hopes with the higher reward, people might start to question their loyalties and weigh them against the promise of a cash reward.

“I have done my time. I have lived with this every single day,” she said. “It’s so terrible. Of all the mistakes I have made in my life, there’s only one that bothers me more than my decision to buy this property and put my house here in Richmond.”

If someone is arrested and prosecuted, she said, she thinks it will help her move past the deaths of her well-loved cows.

Jessica Lowell — 621-5632

jlowell@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @JLowellKJ

IN AUGUSTA, Thursday at 7:37 a.m., a past burglary was reported on Bolton Hills Road.

9:12 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on Civic Center Drive.

9:21 a.m., criminal threatening was reported on Mill Street.

9:41 a.m., littering was reported on Hospital Street.

10:36 a.m., a mental health and well-being check was done on Townsend Street.

10:55 a.m., criminal threatening was reported on Stone Street.

12:07 p.m., a well-being check was done on New England Road.

12:41 p.m., criminal mischief was reported on North Chestnut Street.

1:48 p.m., criminal mischief was reported on Winthrop Street.

3:38 a.m., property was recovered on Capitol Street.

4:29 p.m., theft was reported on Union Street.

4:52 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Spring Street.

6:52 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Crosby Street.

7:05 p.m., a well-being check was done on Western Avenue.

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

9:16 p.m., theft of a motor vehicle was reported on Oak Street.

11:22 p.m., a disturbance was reported on Bennett Street.

11:39 p.m., a well-being check was done on State Street.

11:49 p.m., disorderly conduct was reported on Bennett Street.

Friday at 1:01 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on Commerce Drive.

1:58 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on Civic Center Drive.

IN GARDINER, Thursday at 9:33 a.m., a kitchen fire was reported on High Holborn Street.

11:28 a.m., threatening was reported on Brunswick Avenue.

Friday at 12:17 a.m., a suspicious vehicle was reported on River Avenue.

IN HALLOWELL, Thursday at 10:24 a.m., harassment was reported on Middle Street.

1:22 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Middle Street.

11:13 p.m., a disturbance was reported on Water Street.

IN MONMOUTH, Thursday at 4:12 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on South Monmouth Road.

ARREST

IN AUGUSTA, Thursday at 3:38 p.m., Kristen L. Gay, 22, of Windsor, was arrested on charges of operating under the influence (drugs or combination), and operating while license was suspended or revoked, during a traffic stop on Leighton and Old Winthrop roads.

SUMMONSES

IN AUGUSTA, Thursday at 8:38 a.m., a 47-year-old Augusta woman was summoned on a charge of failure to register a vehicle, during a traffic stop on Western Avenue.

8:38 p.m., Donald J. Kean, 28, of Bailey Island, was summoned on a charge of theft by unauthorized taking or transfer (less than $500), after an investigation on Cony Street.

9:06 p.m., Kasey M. Toothaker, 30, of Augusta, was arrested on a charge of criminal mischief, after an investigation on Union Street.

9:22 p.m., Julie A. Battersby, 44, of Winslow, was summoned on a charge of operating under the influence (alcohol), after a traffic accident was reported on Civic Center and Darin drive.

SKOWHEGAN — The first question Luc Tieman’s attorney asked him as he took the stand Friday afternoon was “Luc, did you kill your wife?”

Tieman answered, “No.”

Valerie Tieman

But when it came to cross-examination by the prosecution, he appeared confused, admitting some stories he had told since August 2016 were made up.

“I changed my story a lot,” he admitted under oath.

The state rested its case Friday against Tieman. Tieman has pleaded not guilty to the crime of knowing or intentional murder in the 2016 shooting death of his wife, Valerie Tieman, and faces 25 years to life in prison if he is found guilty.

A defense request for acquittal was denied. The defense then rested.

The jury will get the case for deliberations after closing arguments by the defense and prosecuting attorneys beginning at 9 a.m. Monday.

Superior Court Justice Robert Mullen, the presiding judge in the trial, advised Tieman before he took the stand Friday afternoon that he had the right to remain silent and that no inference would be made if he chose not to testify.

His lawyer, Stephen Smith, told the judge that his client would testify “over my repeated and strenuous advice not to take the stand.”

Tieman, his thinning hair tousled atop his head, said he had made up the story of Valerie disappearing from the Skowhegan Walmart store on Aug. 30, 2016. He said he did so to save her parents the worry of their daughter going off with another man to do drugs. If she came back, it would make her look bad, he said.

That part of the story was made up, too, Assistant Attorney General Leane Zainea pressed, aggressively at times and appearing to lose patience with Tieman.

“You knew when you made up that story that Valerie was buried in your backyard,” Zainea said to him.

“No,” Tieman answered.

The killing is alleged to have taken place Aug. 25, 2016 — 15 days before Valerie’s parents reported her missing and five days before Tieman claimed his wife had disappeared from the Skowhegan Walmart, although he did not report her missing.

Zainea noted that after a pool party in Waterville on Aug. 24, 2016, he had sex in a Norridgewock park with the woman he told police was his “rebound girl” after Valerie had left him. He moved in with her two days later after the two of them had exchanged photos of their naked bodies, Zainea said.

Tieman said he sent only pictures of his genitalia to the woman, Billi-Jo Hawes, because he had felt an obligation to her after she had first sent him pictures.

“You felt obligated to send a picture of your genitalia?” Zainea asked, incredulous, stressing the word “obligated” as if underlining it.

“It was wrong,” Tieman replied.

The prosecutor also brought up the note found by investigators in Valerie’s grave bearing the nickname for Tieman — Luc-e Bear — and his name for Valerie — Joy Joy. Other notes found in Valerie’s personal items also contained those words.

Tieman said that after Valerie’s autopsy showed she had been shot twice in the head and neck, he wanted it to appear that he was cooperating with state police detectives under questioning in order to placate them and to get his parents freed from them, when, in fact, police were not holding them.

When Zainea showed him a wedding ring police found in Valerie’s grave, he said it looked like his and asked if he could try it on.

Zainea appeared to ignore the request.

Friday morning state police detectives, in audio recordings with Luc Tieman in September 2016 played in court, could be heard saying they knew how his wife, Valerie Tieman, died. They knew approximately when she died and where she was buried.

But there was one unanswered question.

“It always comes back to why,” Detective Jason Andrews is heard saying to Tieman as they rode with another detective, Joshua Birmingham, to the Somerset County Jail in East Madison on Sept. 21, 2016, the day he was arrested on a charge that he had murdered his wife. “We don’t have those answers. You do.”

Investigators with the Maine State Police and Maine Warden’s Service look for evidence in the death of Valerie Tieman, whose body was found Sept. 20, 2016, in the woods behind 628 Norridgewock Road in Fairfield. Staff file photo by Michael G. Seamans

Valerie Tieman’s body was found buried the previous day in a shallow grave behind Luc Tieman’s family’s house in Fairfield. She was 34.

Tieman told police that Valerie had died of a heroin overdose. He admits to burying the body, but not to the murder.

The autopsy report shows that Valerie had drugs in her system, but there was no heroin.

Tieman contends that his wife died in their bed after injecting herself with heroin and that he buried her. He did not account for the two bullet wounds.

“How does she get a bullet in her head?” the detective asks. “It just doesn’t add up. We want to know why Valerie is where she is and why it happened.”

The state brought witnesses from the state crime laboratory to the stand Friday morning. They described for the jury the process of gaining DNA and fingerprint evidence for the case. Markings on a bullet fragment taken from the autopsy matched the rifling and grooves from a .45-caliber pistol found in the Tieman home.

Ross London, the manager of the Winslow Gun Shop, also was called to the stand Friday. He testified that Luc Tieman had purchased a .45-caliber Citadel pistol from the shop in 2015 and had signed all the necessary paperwork for the purchase.

Police have said they recovered such a weapon from the Tieman residence during their search of the house.

Tieman’s defense attorney, Stephen Smith, tried to divert attention Thursday from his client to Tieman’s brother, Sam Tieman, as someone who could have killed Valerie Tieman.

Sam Tieman, now 28, was working construction in August 2016 at Sugarloaf, just 90 minutes from the Tieman home he shared with his parents and Luc and Valerie, Smith told the jury of eight men and six women. The tools allegedly used to dig Valerie’s shallow grave were Sam’s tools. He operated a landscaping business, had a history of drug use and had taken drugs — injecting the narcotic Percocet — with his brother and his wife, Smith noted.

Assistant Attorney General Leanne Robbin dismissed the insinuation, noting that Sam didn’t have a license to drive and went to work at the mountain for the entire week, driven there by his boss. The tools were in an unlocked shed on the Tieman property.

“Everybody had access to those tools,” Robbin said.

State police Sgt. Kyle Willette later Thursday played a PowerPoint presentation about cellphones that lasted well into the afternoon, with cellphone records of calls made to Luc Tieman by women, and calls by him to them.

Valerie’s disappearance from the Skowhegan Walmart is among the police investigators’ “list of lies,” which also includes stories of camping sites he and Valerie had visited, the drug overdose death and Valerie’s “other man,” police have said.

Doug Harlow — 612-2367

dharlow@centralmaine.com

Twitter:@Doug_Harlow

IN ATHENS, Thursday at 1:17 p.m., threatening was reported on Brighton Road.

IN CARRABASSETT VALLEY, Thursday at 10:22 p.m., a noise complaint was taken on Adams Mountain Road.

IN CHINA, Friday at 12:50 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on Lakeview Drive.

IN CLINTON, Thursday at 1:05 p.m., theft was reported on Hinckley Road.

7:45 p.m., a call about a fight was reported on Hinckley Road.

IN EUSTIS, Friday at 5:50 a.m., a brush fire was reported on Arnold Trail.

IN FAIRFIELD, Thursday at 4:20 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Main Street.

8:04 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Wandrup Drive.

IN FARMINGTON, Thursday at 9 a.m., threatening was reported on Middle Street.

7:40 p.m., theft was reported on Fairbanks Road.

IN MADISON, Thursday at 1:13 p.m., a harassment complaint was taken on Weston Avenue.

3:37 p.m., a harassment complaint was taken on Weston Avenue.

7:20 p.m., a structure fire was reported on Lakewood Road.

Friday at 12:33 a.m., loud noise or music was reported on Bean Street.

IN OAKLAND, Thursday at 12:29 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on East Side Trail.

3:51 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Technology Avenue.

IN PALMYRA, Friday at 12:31 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on Oxbow Road.

IN PHILLIPS, Thursday at 11:29 a.m., a domestic disturbance was reported on Park Street.

IN PITTSFIELD, Thursday at 3:11 p.m., a disturbance was reported on Hunnewell Avenue.

Friday at 12:40 a.m., vandalism was reported on Greeley Street.

IN SKOWHEGAN, Thursday at 12:22 p.m., auto theft was reported on Madison Avenue.

5:17 p.m., a domestic disturbance was reported on Island Avenue.

6:47 p.m., theft was reported on Water Street.

IN ST. ALBANS, Thursday at 6:11 p.m., an assault was reported on Todds Corner Road.

IN WATERVILLE, Thursday at 7:33 a.m., theft was reported on The Concourse.

9:28 a.m., theft was reported on North Street.

9:30 a.m., an assault was reported on Spring Street.

10:34 a.m., a call about a fight was taken on The Concourse.

11:17 a.m., shoplifting was reported on Waterville Commons Drive.

12:41 p.m., an intoxicated person was reported on Elm Street.

1:54 p.m., criminal trespassing was reported on Elm Street.

2:09 p.m., theft was reported on Walnut Street.

3:04 p.m., juvenile offenses were reported on Water Street.

4:39 p.m., a noise complaint was taken on Dalton Street.

4:53 p.m., threatening was reported on Elm Street.

5:33 p.m., an intoxicated person was reported on Kennedy Memorial Drive.

7:10 p.m., an assault was reported on Highwood Street.

7:52 p.m., a disturbance was reported on Elm Street.

8:11 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on The Concourse.

8:13 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Russell Street.

9:27 p.m., a domestic dispute was reported on Front Street.

9:37 p.m., an unwanted person was reported on Kennedy Memorial Drive.

Friday at 3:59 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on Elm Street.

IN WINSLOW, Thursday at 9:16 a.m., theft was reported on Clinton Avenue.

9:18 a.m., threatening was reported on Frankwood Drive.

2:05 p.m., identity theft was reported on Bassett Road.

6:22 p.m., an assault was reported on Maillet Street.

ARRESTS

IN FRANKLIN COUNTY, Thursday at 4:39 p.m., Scotty Couture, 29, of Jay, was arrested on warrants.

IN SOMERSET COUNTY, Thursday at 3:14 p.m., Fred Earle Moody, 42, of Hartland, was arrested on a charge of contempt of court.

3:21 p.m., Louis Joe Roderick, 50, of Solon, was arrested on a charge of contempt of court.

3:52 p.m., Christopher David Snow, 28, of Fairfield, was arrested on charges of burglary and assault.

4:55 p.m., David Allen Sincyr, 56, of Skowhegan, was arrested on charges of unlawful trafficking in scheduled drugs.

5:15 p.m., Angel Pacheco, 45, of Waterbury, Connecticut, was arrested on charges of aggravated trafficking of scheduled drugs and unlawful possession of scheduled drugs.

8:24 p.m., Roxanne Marie Mattson, 34, of Fairfield, was arrested on a probation hold.

11:25 p.m., Cody Morin, 23, of Cornville, was arrested on a charge of operating under the influence.

IN WATERVILLE, Thursday at 6:47 p.m., Kendra Louise Ruland, 28, of Waterville, was arrested on a charge of violating conditions of release.

9:04 p.m., Eric Tarr, 20, of Waterville, was arrested on a warrant.

Friday at 3:59 a.m., Ami Eve Irish, 44, of Waterville, was arrested on a warrant.

SUMMONSES

IN FAIRFIELD, Thursday at 6:15 a.m., Christopher David Snow, 28, of Fairfield, was summoned on a charge of leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident.

IN WATERVILLE, Thursday at 9:04 p.m., Richard Clarke III, 19, of Waterville, was summoned on a charge of operating with a suspended or revoked license.

11:51 p.m., Richard Thibodeau, 46, of Clinton, was summoned on a charge of failure to register a vehicle.

AUGUSTA — A 34-year-old Hallowell woman who has helped open a transitional housing facility for recovering drug addicts and has spoken openly about her own struggles was arrested Wednesday on charges of operating under the influence of alcohol and endangering the welfare of a child after police said she crashed a car on Memorial Circle.

Elaina J. George was driving a 2009 Ford Focus north on State Street when she entered the traffic circle and struck a metal fence near the Walgreens Pharmacy on Water Street, according to Sgt. Christian Behr, of the Augusta Police Department. The crash happened just after 4 p.m. Wednesday.

A child was in the car with George, but neither was injured in the crash, which caused about $2,000 in damage to the fence. Police arrested George after testing her for impaired driving, Behr said.

Behr said he couldn’t identify George’s relationship with the child. He said the Maine Department of Health and Human Services was notified after the crash.

George was released Thursday afternoon from the Kennebec County jail in Augusta, after $810 in bail was paid, according to a jail employee.

It wasn’t George’s first drunken driving arrest. Police charged her with operating under the influence of alcohol in February 2013 — at the time, it was her second time being charged with that offense — and she was given a three-year suspended sentence and two years of probation.

Contacted on Facebook this week, George declined a request for an interview. But in the past, she has been open about her struggle with substance abuse.

In mid-2016, George helped open a transitional housing facility for recovering drug addicts on Town Farm Road in Hallowell, through the national organization Oxford House.

That facility now appears to be closed. A call to the national office of Oxford House wasn’t returned immediately. But Larry Davis, who lives on the same street, said it stopped operating about one year ago. The property now is being used as residential apartments.

At the time Oxford House was opening in Hallowell, George — a former nurse — spoke openly with the Kennebec Journal about her past abuse of drugs and alcohol and said that her experience at an Oxford House in Portland had helped her become sober. But she also described her addiction as a lifelong disease and said that her recovery never would be complete.

A couple years after graduating from Messalonskee High School in 2001, George enlisted in the Army. She first started taking prescription painkillers after an injury to her ear drum, she said, and her addiction grew worse in 2011, after her son was born via cesarean section and she was prescribed Vicodin.

Charles Eichacker — 621-5642

ceichacker@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @ceichacker

A 35-year-old woman was stabbed in Portland late Thursday, police said.

The woman, who was not identified, was dropped off at Maine Medical Center with multiple stab wounds, said Lt. Robert Martin, spokesman for the Portland police.

The woman told investigators she was stabbed in the area of 252 Oxford St. after a confrontation with two unknown men. Her injuries are not considered life-threatening.

“Very limited information was provided,” Martin said in an email. “Officers found blood in the area and we are continuing to investigate.”

Police do not believe the public is in danger, and consider the stabbing an isolated incident, Martin said.

SKOWHEGAN — The Somerset County Sheriff’s Office arrested two men after finding heroin and crack cocaine while executing a search warrant Thursday.

According to a news release from Sheriff Dale Lancaster, the sheriff’s office conducted the search around 1:45 p.m. Thursday at the home of David and Beverly Sincyr on Dartmouth Street. During the search, police found about 65 grams of heroin, 35 grams of crack cocaine, controlled pills, $4,240 in cash, drug-related paraphernalia and drug-related documentation. The seized drugs and cash were all possessed by Angel Pacheco, of Waterbury, Connecticut, police said.

Pacheco, 45, was arrested and charged with aggravated trafficking in a schedule W drug for the heroin, aggravated trafficking in a schedule W drug for the cocaine, possession of a schedule W drug for the heroin and possession of a schedule W drug for the cocaine. Pacheco’s drug charges are aggravated because of the amount of drugs that he possessed — over 6 grams of heroin and over 32 grams of crack cocaine — and the fact that he has prior felony-level drug convictions in Connecticut.

David Sincyr, 56, was arrested and charged with trafficking in a schedule W drug for the heroin and trafficking in a scheduled drug for the cocaine.

Both men were taken to the Somerset County Jail. Sincyr is being held in lieu of $50,000 cash bail, while Pacheco is being held in lieu of $100,000 cash bail. Both are scheduled to appear in court on July 11.

The search warrant for the residence on Dartmouth Street was part of an ongoing investigation into heroin and crack cocaine being sold in and around Somerset County. Additional charges may be brought against Pacheco, Sincyr and others once the case is reviewed by the Somerset County District Attorney’s Office.

Colin Ellis — 861-9253

cellis@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @colinoellis

Charged with robbery, Donald Sturton, 70, appears in court in March. Staff photo by Derek Davis

The 70-year-old South Portland cabdriver who is accused of robbing the Bank of America branch by the Maine Mall with a plastic squirt gun last month has been indicted by the Cumberland County grand jury on one count of Class B robbery, the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office said Friday.

Donald Sturton, making no effort to conceal his identity, demanded cash from a young female teller and walked away from the bank with $895 on March 7, court documents state. South Portland police apprehended him while he was waiting for a bus to take him home.

According to court documents, Sturton told police he had been thinking of robbing a bank for about a month. He said he was having trouble paying his bills, and had been taking medication to treat depression and anxiety.

The robbery charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.