Maine Department of Public Safety
COMMUNICATOR
Compiled by the Public Information Office
November 6, 2009
State Police continue to ask
hunters in the Newport
area to be on the lookout for any hunting or camping related items that they
find in the woods. The
appeal comes a week after Perley Goodrich was taken into custody for the
shooting of his father. Two guns have been located by detectives, but a hunting
rifle has not been accounted for. Anyone
who locates items that may be related to the case should leave them alone and
contact State Police by calling 911. The
four day manhunt for Goodrich in Newport
last week involved more than 50 State Police personnel and was the largest
search in the state in a year. Goodrich is accused of shooting his father at their
Newport home
and fleeing into nearby woods. He was captured last Friday morning at the Irving Restaurant
in Newport
after a waitress recognized him and called police.
There have been
at least four other wide scale searches for fugitives this decade in Maine involving
dozens of State Police personnel, including the tactical team and local and
county law enforcement.
In October of
2008, a large scale search was launched for Randall Hofland in Searsport after
he pointed a gun at a local officer. The
search was scaled back and a week later he walked into the Stockton Springs
Elementary School and
took a number of students hostage. That
incident ended peacefully when Hofland surrendered.
In September
2004, a woman was abducted by her estranged husband and that launched a large
scale search in Pleasant Ridge Plantation, near Bingham. That search involved over 30 law enforcement
personnel and a helicopter. It ended a day later when the woman escaped and the
man was arrested.
Two wide
scale searches took place in the summer of 2002. In Greene, dozens of police searched for a
local man in July after he shot and killed a man at a local campground. The gunman’s body was found four days later
in a nearby pond where he had drowned after fleeing the shooting. In August 2002, searchers conducted a manhunt
for a local man who had fired a shot from an assault weapon and fled into woods
in Pittsfield.
That gunman was located 11 days later at a house in Bradford.
Speeders of the week include a Glenburn man has been charged
by State Police with speeding in the town at 105 mph. Trooper Brian Bean arrested 29 year old
Brandon Harvey after clocking Harvey’s
car in a 35 mph zone along Route 221. A Bangor teenager has been arrested for speeding at 116 mph
along Interstate 95 in Bangor. Trooper Christopher Cookson charged Thomas
Sapiel with criminal speeding after clocking Sapiel’s car in the 55 mph zone
through Bangor. Three other teenagers were also in the car at
the time and their parents were notified by the trooper.
CAPITOL POLICE
The personnel of Capitol Police met this week at the State
House. The group is responsible for law
enforcement at state buildings in Augusta and Hallowell. Capitol Police was formerly known as Capitol
Security since it was formed in the late 1960s.
The name change this fall was to emphasis the bureau’s full police service
role. From R to L – Officers Lindsey
Pinkham, Luke Sirois & James Wright,
Sgt. Robert Elliot, Officer Paul LaPierre, Chief Russell Gauvin and
Commissioner Anne Jordan.
A Madison man faces charges
after badly injuring himself in what troopers say was an attempted burglary of
a convenience store. Elwood Gordon Jr.,
41, sustained a multiple leg fracture and underwent surgery. Trooper Diane Perkins-Vance said Gordon fell
off a barrel he was standing on outside the Irving Mainway in Norridgewock as
he was attempting to gain entry to the building through a bathroom window. Gordon was found lying on the ground by a
friend who brought him to the hospital.
The trooper charged Gordon and the friend, 30 year old Adrian Callan of Madison, with attempted
burglary, attempted theft and criminal mischief.
State Police say five
of its patrol vehicles have been damaged in recent weeks after colliding with
deer, and a Washington
County Deputy was injured
last night in a collision with a moose. Sgt. Deputy Thomas Chambers sustained multiple
bumps and bruises and is being treated at Eastern
Maine Medical
Center in Bangor. Although moose are always a threat on
the roadway, the Maine Department of Transportation says November
is the peak month for deer-vehicle crashes with nearly 20% of all annual deer
crashes taking place in November. The most frequent time for a collision with a
deer is between 4 p.m. and 10 p.m. The
recent State Police crashes with a deer took place on Route 182 in Hancock,
Route 1 in Harrington, Interstate 95 in Veazie, Quiggle Rd. in Union and the
Village Rd. in Jackson. None of the
troopers were injured, but one of the cruisers was demolished and most of the others
suspected several thousand dollars in damage.
Troopers are
investigating a number of thefts from unlocked motor vehicles in Manchester and
Readfield. The thefts took place in late
October and involved two stolen guns, tools and personal items taken from
unlocked cars and trucks parked along Kennison
St and Lindon Brook Park in Manchester and on the Plains Rd. in Readfield. Trooper Scott Duff continues to investigate
the thefts and advises motorists to always lock their vehicles to avoid being
an easy target for thieves. ##
