Officer removed from duty > Bucksport police not allowed to cross town line

BUCKSPORT — A local police officer says he was suspended from his job this week for crossing the town line to help a severely injured pedestrian hit by a car. A police dispatcher also was suspended after the incident.

Officer Kevin Megno said Wednesday that he knew he was violating town policy when he crossed the bridge to Verona on Sunday night, but that his ethics and instincts as a trained emergency medical technician would not allow him to sit idly by while a man might be dying.

Lt. David Milan, Bucksport deputy police chief, confirmed that Megno and dispatcher Carole Gray were suspended with pay. He said he could not discuss the reasons, but that the suspensions would continue pending an investigation he expects will be completed in a week or so.

The accident victim, 26-year-old Willard Radley of Bangor, remained hospitalized Wednesday at Eastern Maine Medical Center, where he was listed in fair condition, having been upgraded from critical since Sunday evening. Police said he suffered chest injuries and multiple broken bones after being struck by a car as he walked along the side of the road.

Although Town Manager Roger Raymond would not discuss the suspensions, he said that policy approved by the Bucksport Town Council two or so years ago prohibits police officers from responding to incidents outside the town’s boundaries for liability reasons. He said any questions should be directed to Police Chief Doug Gray, who reportedly was out of town Wednesday, and was unavailable for comment.

“I am aware that there’s an issue, but I have not had the opportunity to talk to Doug. For that reason, I’m not going to comment,” Raymond said.

Officer Kevin Megno says he was patrolling Bucksport’s Main Street around 7:30 p.m. Sunday when he heard Maine State Police radio traffic regarding a car-pedestrian accident on Route 1 in Verona, just south of where he was sitting at the town’s main intersection. He said he could look up the hill and see the accident scene an estimated 2,500 feet away.

Having reason to believe that the Bucksport ambulance and fire vehicle was out of the service area at that moment, Megno concluded that he might be the only one available to help within the first few minutes after the accident was reported.

“Basically I took it upon myself to assess the scene. I didn’t go up there with blue lights and sirens,” said Megno, an ambulance corps member. “Being an EMT, firefighter and police officer for 13 years, I feel it’s my obligation that when somebody needs help, I help them.”

Megno said he radioed dispatcher Gray that he would go to the scene, but did not check with a supervisor because none was on duty. Gray was unavailable for comment Wednesday afternoon.

Megno said he had only had time to check Radley’s breathing when EMT Craig Bowden of the Bucksport Fire Department arrived.

Believing that 23-year-old driver Shane Grindle was intoxicated, Megno said, he radioed an update to the state police, then took the Ellsworth resident, who was arrested for operating under the influence, to the Bucksport police station.

The total time that elapsed between the report of the accident and Megno’s returning to the police station was 10 minutes, he said.

Megno said that when he reported to work Tuesday night, he was told he was under suspension and should not return until a hearing was scheduled on the situation. He said he had been reprimanded for crossing the town line once before, although it did not involve a life-threatening situation.

Trooper Carleton Small, the state police officer who investigated the Verona accident, said he was outraged to learn of Megno’s suspension.

“I don’t know him real well, but I’ve heard he’s a really good police officer. If he knows somebody needs help, he’s going to help them,” Small said. “The policy’s just wrong.”

Chief Deputy Richard Bishop of the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday that Bucksport is the only town he knows of in the county to have such a policy, which his department keeps in mind when the need for mutual aid arises.

“We know that their officers are not allowed outside their jurisdiction without authorization,” said Bishop. “We do understand what their policy is, and we don’t try to put them in any situation where that problem would arise.”