Teen in Hermon grazed by snowplow

A snowplow grazed a teen-ager walking on the Newburgh Road in Hermon on Thursday night, causing minor injuries.

The teen-ager was walking along the road with an friend and pushed his friend out of the way of the snowplow and then he tried to jump out of the way, reported Penobscot County Sheriff’s Deputy Ronald Sherwin.

The teen-ager was grazed and both were slightly bruised, largely apparently suffered after jumping out of the way of the path of the snowplow.

Few details were available as Sherwin had not yet reached the snowplow driver.

A car was found abandoned and stuck in the mud on Outer Hammond Street Extension in Bangor late Wednesday night. Its driver, Mark B. McClellan, 47, was located at his residence, about a 5-minute walk away from the accident.

McClellan still had mud on his pants and his clothing was wet, reported Officer Steve Jordan, who arrested McClellan on a charge of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicants.

A passing motorist had seen the stuck car and asked McClellan if he was all right. McClellan told the motorist that he had already called it in. The motorist told police he then saw that McClellan started walking away from the car.

Jordan found the car stuck in the mud on an grassy island, with about 75 feet of a four-wheel skid in front of the island.

He then went to the trailer home residence listed to McClellan and found the man sitting in the kitchen. McClellan claimed that his car was parked outside, although his brother told Jordan that McClellan had arrived home shortly before the officer had arrived. The brother said he hadn’t driven McClellan’s car.

While Jordan was speaking to him, McClellan tried to get up from the chair, but fell back into the chair and then onto the floor, Jordan reported. In addition, McClellan’s speech was slurred and loud and his eyes were glassy, according to the report.

Jordan arrested McClellan and as they were leaving, McClellan kept telling his brother, “Remember, you didn’t see me drive.”

McClellan’s blood-alcohol content registered 0.20 percent, or more than twice the legal limit of 0.08 percent.

A Bangor woman who thought that drinking a beer an hour would keep her under the legal drinking limit was arrested and charged with drunken driving early Thursday morning.

Melissa Pangakis, 32, caught the attention of police after her black Pontiac Firebird took a wide turn onto the Odlin Road about 1:15 a.m. The passenger side tires left the pavement and drove through pot holes, reported Officer Brian Nichols. The Firebird accelerated as it turned into the Econo Lodge parking lot, and the car’s tires spun.

Confronted by Nichols, Pangakis admitted to having two beers. The officer reported that her eyes were bloodshot and glassy and that he could smell the strong odor of alcohol coming from her mouth. During field sobriety tests, Pangakis couldn’t keep her balance and she showed other signs of being intoxicated, according to the police report.

She was arrested and charged with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicants. Her blood-alcohol content registered 0.12 percent, or 11/2 times the legal limit of 0.08 percent.

“I thought you could drink one beer an hour and still be safe,” Pangakis said at the Penobscot County Jail. Nichols informed her that that was not a good rule of thumb to follow.

The passenger in the Firebird also was arrested after Nichols reported the man became angry and loud when Pangakis was taken into custody.

Daniel Chamberland, 47, began yelling at Nichols after the officer told him to move away from the police cruiser where Pangakis was sitting, awaiting transportation to the Bangor Police Department. Warned to quiet down, Chamberland continued to yell and whistled loudly using his fingers, Nichols reported. Nichols arrested Chamberland, charging him with disorderly conduct.

A woman wanted by Bangor police on check fraud charges turned herself in after reading in the newspaper that authorities were looking for her.

Jessica Payne, 23, offered to meet police at her mother’s house Monday, after she had seen her name in the newspaper March 16. She was wanted in connection with checks that had been stolen from the Paul Bunyan Lumber Co. in Holden and cashed.

Bangor police Officer Shawn Green met Payne and charged her with four counts of forgery, four counts of theft and one count of receiving stolen property.

Payne was recognized on videotape provided by the United Kingfield Bank as cashing four of the five stolen checks. The four checks amounted to $2,875.

Green reported that Payne would not admit to the charges but told him she would be willing to plead to non-felony charges. Green referred her to the Penobscot County District Attorney’s Office for that.

– Compiled by NEWS Reporter Doug Kesseli