Busy week for law enforcers

    On Sept. 25, 2008 at 8:21 p.m. the police department received a call from a Sterritt Street resident reporting a shot fired inside her home. Robert Wright III, age 25 of 11 Sterritt Street fired a shot into a wall at the base of a stairwell after having a verbal dispute with his mother, Susanna Wright. The handgun was obtained by forcing open a door to a spare bedroom where several weapons were stored. Wright has been distraught lately due to a recent court decision involving his 4 year old daughter.
    During the course of the altercation with his mother, it is alleged that Wright prevented his mother from contacting the police department by disabling the telephone. Susanna Wright then secured herself in the upstairs bathroom where she then called the police department using a cellular phone. It was while she was in the bathroom that the shot rang out.
    Units from the Houlton Police Department, State Police, Maliseet Police Department, Border Patrol and the Sheriff’s Office responded and arrived on scene in a matter of minutes. The residence was quickly searched and secured by police. Wright fled the residence moments before police arrived. Numerous firearms were located in the upstairs bedroom. The smell of gunpowder still permeated in the air. A bullet hole was discovered in the kitchen wall at the base of a stair well.
    Police quickly fanned out to secure a perimeter. A K-9 was called to the scene but the track was lost east of Hillview Drive by the Reservoir Hill area. While searching the ATV trails east of Hillview Drive, police stopped and arrested an individual for operating an ATV while under the influence of alcohol. At approximately 10:40 p.m., a Hillview Drive resident reported someone trying to forcibly enter their residence. A subject was spotted by police fleeing on foot toward Pearce Avenue on Hillview Drive. Police quickly converged on the scene but the subject was able to escape capture.
    Earlier, police attempted to contact Wright by calling his cell phone. Wright answered but then shut off his phone as soon as the officer identified himself.
    At approximately 12:15 a.m., Officer Brady Henderson of the Maliseet Police Department sent and received a text message from Wright. Subsequently the two began speaking directly to one another. Wright agreed to surrender himself to police. Officer Henderson and Sgt. Eric Crouse located Wright on Pearce Avenue sitting on the curbing with his head down. The arrest went without incident. A .357 magnum revolver and four rounds of ammunition were observed on the ground within reach of Wright.
    Chief Butch Asselin credits the actions, training and professionalism of the various law enforcement agencies with the peaceful resolution of this critical situation. He states the cooperation displayed between the different agencies was exemplary.
    Wright has been charged with obstructing the report of a crime, Class D and discharging a firearm near a dwelling, Class E. Upon review by the district attorneys office, the charges may be upgraded.
    Wright has a court date of Nov. 4, 2008 at Houlton District Court. Alcohol was not a factor in the incident.
Log truck hits car
    State Police say a Palmyra woman is in critical condition after her car pulled into the path of a logging truck in front of her home early September 26. 
    Being treated at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor is 42-year-old Julie Henderson.
    State Trooper Aaron Turcotte said Henderson drove out of her driveway on Route 2 about 5:15 a.m. and into the path of an empty pulp truck, operated by 37-year-old Christopher Elwell of Benedicta. 
    The truck collided with Henderson’s 2002 Dodge Stratus on the driver’s side.  She was initially taken to Sebasticook Valley Hospital in Pittsfield and later transferred to Eastern Maine Medical Center. 
    Turcotte and a team of troopers investigated the crash, including personnel from the department’s commercial vehicle enforcement unit. The road was shut down at the crash site for about four hours. There was some early morning fog at the time of the crash, but it is not known why Henderson did not see the truck before she pulled out onto the highway.
Joy ride ends at border
    On Sept. 22, a 16-year-old male from Augusta and a 13-year-old female from South Gardiner, stole a black Jeep Cherokee, belonging to the young man’s mother in Augusta. The pair drove the vehicle north to the United States and Canadian border where they attempted entry into Canada, said Maine State Police Sergeant Julie Bergan.
    When the Canadian officials referred them for a secondary inspection, the pair became scared, turned around, and entered back into the U.S. without stopping at the U.S. border. They went through the U.S. inspection lane at a high rate of speed, estimated at 50 miles per hour. 
    The USCP Officer contacted Border Patrol to apprehend the vehicle. Eventually the vehicle was located in the Sherman area at the Irving gas station. Border Patrol and USCP officials escorted the pair back to the Houlton Port of Entry and then contacted the State Police.
    Trooper Dennis Quint responded to the Port of Entry and contacted Juvenile Corrections regarding the pair. The female was listed as a missing person from the Gardiner area, while the young man was currently on weekend release from an unknown juvenile intake center when he stole the vehicle.
    Trooper Quint learned from Augusta Police Department that the male also stole $500 cash belonging to his parents of which $213.12 was recovered. The male was issued juvenile summonses to Houlton District Court for Driving to Endanger and Operating after Suspension. The young man was also issued a juvenile summons to Augusta District Court for Unauthorized Use of Property and is facing additional theft charges for the stolen money.  The female was also summonsed for her part in the motor vehicle theft. The young man is also facing Federal charges for failing to submit to inspection when coming back into the United States.
    Both juveniles were taken to the Aroostook County Jail by order of the juvenile intake officer and were immediately transferred back to Augusta.
MDEA seizes cocaine
and arrests three in southern Aroostook County
    HOULTON — After dozens of arrests in rural communities in Southern Aroostook County last month, MDEA agents moved in again on Thursday, adding three more. MDEA Agents assigned to the Aroostook District Task Force, based in Houlton, have been investigating reports of cocaine trafficking in the Island Falls area for several months.
    The investigation identified several suspects including Lori Miclette, 37, of Island Falls. On Thursday, MDEA agents tracked Miclette’s movements as she traveled out of state to get cocaine for sale in Aroostook County. She was followed on the return trip north and stopped on I-95 in Sherman. A “drug sniffing” police dog quickly found more than an ounce and a half of cocaine hidden in the center console of the borrowed Chevrolet Impala. The cocaine is valued at more than $4,500. Miclette was taken into custody and charged with trafficking in cocaine.
    Evidence collected before and after this seizure helped agents identify two more suspects who were planning to receive a significant quantity of this cocaine. Thursday evening, agents made clandestine arrangements with each of these suspects to deliver their share of the cocaine. Both suspects, Joseph Long, 18, of Island Falls and 51-year-old Vivian “Clyde” Criswell, of Benedicta were arrested and charged with trafficking in cocaine. Criswell’s 2005 Toyota SUV was seized.
    All of the suspects were released on bail, and will be arraigned in Aroostook County Superior Court on November 20, 2008.  The maximum penalty for this offense is 10 years in prison. The investigation is continuing.
    Anyone with information on drug trafficking in their community is urged to call MDEA, toll free, at 1-800-452-6457.