AUGUSTA — Three former Augusta public safety officials who are charged with theft and criminal mischief that killed more than 400 state-owned trout, will be tried together, a Superior Court judge has ruled.

Justice Stephen Perkins made his decision this week in the case of former policemen Mark Petela, 44, and Michael Kinsella, 29, and former firefighter Kendall Buck, 40.

One potential obstacle in a joint trial arises when one defendant has made a statement to the police that incriminates the co-defendants. The co-defendants cannot defend themselves and a mistrial could ensue.

A judge has ordered that Kinsella’s statements to police be suppressed because his rights had been violated, but statements made by Petela and Buck can be used in the trial, and those statements may mention Kinsella.

Should the defendants choose to take the stand, the problem would not exist.

Petela, Kinsella and Buck have admitted that they entered the Governor Hill Fish Hatchery on the evening of April 25, 1989, and took four fish valued at $153.12 each, but they insist they had the permission of the hatchery manager.

The three adamantly deny pulling a plug that caused the suffocation of 415 of the 4- to 6-year-old lake trout in the brood stock, worth a total of $63,544.80.