January-February 2019

Maine Office of Public Safety statewide wrap-up: house fires, icy bridge crash, robbery, meth lab

Mon, 02/18/2019 - 10:00am

    MAINE — In different incidents, two men died while re-entering burning houses for dogs. Winter weather played a role in a multi-vehicle car crash that injured a police chief, and two people died in other vehicle crashes. At the same time, one man was arrested for an alleged meth lab operation, and another for an alleged bank robbery.

    Read the reports distributed by Maine State Troopers and Fire Marshal investigators.

    Tuesday, Jan. 22

    State Police was called to a multi-vehicle crash on Rt. 1, in the Northern Aroostook County town of Cyr Plantation, during the morning of Tuesday, Jan. 22.

    Heavy winds caused spotty white-out conditions, which were severe at the scene of the crash. There were 11 vehicles involved, including two Maine Department of Transportation plow trucks, one Van Buren Police Cruiser that was undamaged, seven passenger cars, and one pickup truck.  

    One DOT operator was struck and injured while he was on foot at the scene, as well as Van Buren Police Chief Michael Bresette, who was one of the first to arrive at the crash site. Bresette received multiple non-life threatening injuries after he was struck by a car while standing outside of his vehicle at the crash site. He suffered multiple broken bones. After being struck, he dragged himself out of the road to avoid being struck a second time by an oncoming truck.

    Van Buren Ambulance Service transported the injured to the Cary Medical Center in Caribou for treatment. Some were treated and released, others were still receiving treatment days later.

    The Van Buren Police Department, Maine Warden Service, Aroostook Sheriff’s Department, the Maine Department of Transportation, and the Van Buren and Cyr Plantation Fire Departments all assisted at the scene.

     

    Thursday, Jan. 24

    State Police report that a driver escaped serious injury this morning when her car overturned on the Messalonskee Stream Bridge on Interstate 95 in Waterville. 

    Troopers said a 49-year-old woman, of Newport, lost control of her Honda Civic while passing another vehicle in the northbound lanes. The falling rain had started to freeze on the bridge’s surface when her car struck abutments on both sides of the bridge before overturning, and coming to rest on its roof in the center of the bridge. 

    Ames had minor lacerations and was looked at by ambulance personnel on scene.

    Ames’ car was the only vehicle involved. The crash backed up traffic in the northbound lanes to Kennedy Memorial Drive in Waterville. 

    Although the morning temperatures were in the low 40s, State Police remind motorists that bridge surfaces are the first to freeze and motorists need to adjust their speed when crossing them.

     

    Saturday, Jan. 26

    According to the State Fire Marshal's Office, one man died in a mobile home fire in Kittery early Saturday morning, Jan. 26. The body of Shaun Flaherty, Jr., 52 was found in the bedroom of the home, located in a mobile home park on Dana Avenue.

    Neighbors reported the fire about 4 a.m., and firefighters located the body after the home was safe to enter.

    Flaherty lived alone, police said.

    Fire investigators said the cause of the fire could not be determined because of the severe damage to the home, though the fire appeared to have started in the kitchen-living room area.

    The home was destroyed.

     

    Wednesday, Jan. 30

    The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency and York County Sheriff’s Office reported that a Limington man was charged with operating a meth lab.

    Andrew Sweeney, 33, was arrested and charged with unlawful operation of a methamphetamine laboratory. Deputies had conducted a bail compliance check on Sweeney at his home Wednesday evening. 

    Sweeney had been released on bail earlier in the month on a drug possession charge. During the bail check, deputies recognized several items consistent with a meth lab underway inside Sweeney's mobile home.  They secured the scene and contacted MDEA for assistance.  

    MDEA's lab team arrived Thursday to process the scene and found five active one-pot meth labs inside the residence. They also located another 40 inactive meth lab containers in a shed on the property, police said. Meth is typically made from household ingredients reacting inside a plastic soda bottle. 

    The Maine Dept. of Environmental Protection responded to take custody of the dangerous chemicals and its byproducts from the scene.

    Sweeney was arrested and transported to the York County Jail. No bail was set and he was scheduled to appear in York District Court.  

    This is the third meth lab incident MDEA has responded to this year.  There were 52 meth lab related incidents MDEA responded to in 2018.

     

    Saturday, Feb. 2

    State Police say one man was killed Friday afternoon in Wayne when he lost control of his SUV and it struck a utility pole. Troopers said Michael Fitzherbert, 35, of Hartford, was traveling north on Route 133 when his 2001 Chevy Blazer went off the right side of the roadway, struck the pole and came to rest on its roof. 

    The crash took place about 1:30 p.m., and Route 133 was closed for three hours.

    Fitzherbert, who was not wearing a seat belt, was partially ejected and died at the scene, police said.

    CMP workers worked to restore power in the subzero temperatures. Readfield and Wayne Fire Departments and Winthrop Ambulance assisted troopers at the crash site , along with Winthrop Police.

     

     

    Monday, Feb. 4

    The State Fire Marshal's Office said one man was missing, and later found dead, following a house fire in Orland, Monday, Feb. 4. Four others escaped the burning house uninjured.

    The fire was reported by the home's residents about 5:30 p.m., at the 5 Winkumpaugh Road home, and all five residents initially made it out of the house.

    The body of Sam Crawford, 40, was found at about 11:30 p.m., Monday night, in the basement area of the house’s rubble. The other adults and two children escaped the fire uninjured.

    Crawford had moved his skidder to a neighbor's property. When he returned, he told survivors he was going to look for his missing dog.

    The dog's body was not located.

    A team of five fire investigators searched for Crawford while looking for the cause of the fire. The intensity of the fire, however, flattened the one-story ranch into the basement.

    Investigators said the fire started in the attached garage of the house shortly after a space heater was turned on.

    Four others escaped the fire, including a 26-year-old, 19-year-old, and two girls, age 9 and 5.  
     
     

    Monday, Feb. 4

    State Police say a man died Monday after his vehicle overturned alongside the Maine Turnpike in Wells around 3 p.m..

    Troopers said Con Van Huynh, 46, of Wells, lost control of the vehicle in the northbound lanes. The SUV struck guardrails and then overturned, coming to rest on its roof, beside the highway.

    Huyhn was not wearing a seat belt and was thrown from the vehicle. He died from his injuries later at Maine Medical Center in Portland.

    Huynh was from Worcester, Massachusetts, but had been in the process of relocating to the Biddeford area, police said.

     

    Update

    Fire Marshals said the man who died January 19 when fire destroyed an Orrington house had been identified. The man who died was Burton Hagelin, Jr,  51, who had lived at the home for a couple of months. 

    One reason for the delay in his identification was that he had told others in the home he was someone else, according to the police report.

    Hagelin was originally from Dover Foxcroft.

    A woman, Shelly Lynn Murphy, also died in the fire in Orrington.

     

    Wednesday, Feb. 13

    The State Fire Marshal's Office said one man died when fire swept his home on Dedham. Investigators said the man, 76-year-old Jerry Bishop, and his wife, 77-year-old Phyllis Bishop, escaped the house mid-morning after being awakened by smoke detectors. Both escaped the burning house.  Bishop then reentered the burning house to look for his dog.

    His body was recovered around 2:30 p.m., a few feet from the door he’d entered.

    According to the news release, investigators think Bishop likely was overcome with smoke. The huskie dog has not been located. 

    The log cabin house on Privet Road was destroyed by the fire. 

    A team of four Fire Marshal investigators could not determine the cause of the fire, but the couple reported some electrical issues at the home the day before, according to the release.

    That was the second fatal fire in a week in which homeowners died reentering their burning houses to look for lost pets.

    On February 4, an Orland man died after he went back into his burning home to look for his dog.

      
     
    Thursday, Feb. 14

    State Police arrested a Patten man and charged him with robbing the East Mill Credit Union in Patten Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 12.  Trooper Tim Saucier arrested Bryan Ingalls, 59, of Patten, who was charged with robbery. 
     
    Bail was set at $40,000 cash and Ingalls was taken to the Penobscot County Jail in Bangor.  An undisclosed portion of the money was recovered during the investigation, police said. 
     
    The investigation is continuing with other leads and evidence. 
     
    State Police continue to ask the public for assistance in the case by calling the State Police Barracks in Houlton at 532-5400. 

    SUMMARY OF INCIDENT:
    On February 12, Maine State Police received a 911 call reporting that the East Mill Credit Union on Church Street, in Patten, had just been robbed. The caller reported that a male subject had entered the bank, demanded money, and then fled on foot.

    Troopers, game wardens, and deputies from Aroostook and Penobscot sheriff offices converged on the area and began a search for the suspect. A State Police K-9 team assisted in the investigation.

    While the search was underway, members of the State Police Evidence Response Team began processing the crime scene for evidence. A canvass of the area neighborhoods was also conducted and witness statements were collected. As the investigation unfolded, leads were developed in the case and the investigation remains ongoing.

    Although it is not believed that there is any immediate threat to the public, the Maine State Police urged residents of Patten to remain vigilant and keep their homes and vehicles locked. Anyone who noticed any suspicious individuals or activity in the area are urged to contact the Maine State Police, Troop F in Houlton at 207-532-5400 or Aroostook County Crimestoppers at 1-800-638-8477.

    Trooper Tim Saucier is the lead investigator in the case.

    Assisting agencies: Aroostook and Penobscot Sheriff’s Office, Maine Game Wardens, and Troop E (Bangor).