6 wanted by police succumb to sting Lure of snowmobile too good to pass up

STANDISH – The lure of a free snowmobile sounded too good to be true. And it was for six people with outstanding arrest warrants who were slapped with handcuffs when they tried to collect the prize.

The giveaway of a new Polaris XCR 800 snowmobile was actually a sting operation by the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department.

The Sheriff’s Department arrested four men and two women – mostly on outstanding warrants for failing to appear in court or pay fines. After months of planning, it was easy pickings.

“What other time do criminals keep their appointments?” said Sheriff Mark Dion.

The would-be winners arrived excited and hopeful, climbing onto the snowmobile to try their key in the ignition. But when they walked into a back room full of uniformed deputies, their smiles turned into blank expressions, scowls or tears.

Vanessa Webster came from Auburn for a shot at winning the snowmobile. Even if she didn’t win the grand prize, Webster figured, she’d still pick up $50 in prizes just for filling out a survey.

Instead, her only prize was a free ride to jail. As a bonus, her boyfriend got arrested, too – for carrying a fake driver’s license and a small amount of marijuana, police said.

Webster was one of 172 people with outstanding warrants who received a form letter that began with a familiar refrain: “Congratulations! You are a guaranteed winner!”

A key enclosed with the letter, it said, might be the one that starts the snowmobile. It also promised each contestant $50 worth of gift certificates for filling out a 15-minute survey.

The ruse was a way to help the department to catch people in a safe manner without the use of force, said Detective Sgt. James Langella. The county has hundreds of outstanding warrants.

Dion smiled as the elaborate hoax worked just as planned.

“Greed is a fundamental human drive. We just took advantage of it, that’s all,” he said.

After one man held out his hand to be congratulated, Dion couldn’t contain a chuckle as he left the room.

“There’s no reason you can’t do police work and have a little fun. It doesn’t always have to be clenched teeth,” he said. “These guys, by virtue of being wanted, have scammed us. Now we’ve scammed them back.”