Down East prison escapee caught off guard by roadblock

ROQUE BLUFFS – A tired, wet, minimum-security prisoner from Downeast Correctional Facility in nearby Bucks Harbor walked out of the woods early Thursday and into the arms of a Washington County sheriff’s roadblock.

Daniel McAllister, 40, of Bridgton turned himself in around 12:30 a.m. about two miles from where he last was seen.

He walked out of the woods near the Roque Bluffs and Machias town line. He had been part of a work detail painting a church.

“He walked right up to the roadblock,” said Sgt. Donnie Smith of the Washington County Sheriff’s Department. “There was no way out. We had him pretty well pinned in.”

The prisoner was taken to the sheriff’s office, then was returned to the Bucks Harbor facility, where he remained Thursday.

Prison officials said Thursday they planned to evaluate the circumstances surrounding McAllister’s disappearance from the work crew, and, once that was completed, they would make a decision on how his case would be handled.

On Wednesday, McAllister walked away from a four-member crew painting Roque Bluffs Community Church, which is located between the ocean and a wooded area.

The prison guard noticed McAllister was missing around 3 p.m. and notified authorities.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Department, working with other agencies, including officers from the Downeast Correctional Facility, set up roadblocks. Canine units from the Sheriff’s Department, Maine Warden Service and Charleston Correctional Facility searched the wooded areas.

A helicopter from the Maine Forestry Service searched the area from the air. “They actually plotted the course for us out there,” Smith said.

McAllister was serving a sentence for criminal operating under the influence of intoxicants, two counts of operating after revocation, eluding a police officer and reckless conduct, all Class C crimes. He has been at the Bucks Harbor facility since October 2002. He was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment, with all but two years suspended and four years’ probation.

The prison has several four- and six-member work crews that work in communities in the area doing lawn work or performing minor maintenance, including painting.

This is the first escape from the prison in 13 years.

Smith credited the help of the various police agencies. “This was a good effort,” the sergeant said.