Search ends in arrest of Easton man Truck driver charged with arson, criminal threatening, assaulting his wife

PRESQUE ISLE – An Easton man who was the subject of a more than weeklong search in connection with a domestic assault and fire was apprehended Monday without incident.

Kevin A. Rand, 45, was taken into custody about 8:30 a.m. by Maine State Police Trooper Rob Flynn at the home of Rand’s friend on Spring Street in Presque Isle. Flynn declined to identify the friend.

Rand, a truck driver, has been charged with arson, criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, and assault.

Flynn said Monday that he was doing follow-up interviews on the case when he learned that Rand was at the Spring Street location.

Rand supposedly planned to give himself up, the trooper said. The suspect was taken to the Aroostook County Jail in Houlton and made his initial court appearance Monday in 2nd District Court in Houlton.

Judge David Griffiths set bail at $50,000 surety or $10,000 cash. Rand remained in jail Monday afternoon.

Rand was the subject of an air and ground search early last week by state police, game wardens and a U.S. Border Patrol aircraft that began Sunday, June 15, after he allegedly assaulted his wife and then set the couple’s Lamoreau Road house on fire.

Rand also allegedly threatened the woman with a weapon, before reportedly fleeing on an all-terrain vehicle.

His wife fled the house and sought help at a neighbor’s home, from where police were called. She later was treated at The Aroostook Medical Center in Presque Isle for cuts and bruises she allegedly received during the confrontation with Rand.

The woman’s three children, two of whom are Rand’s, were not at home when the alleged assault took place sometime between 7 and 7:30 p.m., Flynn said.

State police received the domestic assault complaint at about 7:45 p.m. The fire was reported 10 minutes later.

About 30 firefighters from Easton and Presque Isle fought the fire. The two-story house, an attached garage and a car in the garage were destroyed. Damage was estimated at about $60,000.

An investigator from the State Fire Marshal’s Office later ruled the fire was the result of a human element. Evidence of an ignitable liquid was found at the fire site and was being tested at the State Crime Laboratory in Augusta.

Police recovered Rand’s ATV on Monday morning and impounded it after he told them where he hid the vehicle behind his house, Flynn said.