Swanville man reports fight, faces drug charges

SWANVILLE – A local man who called police to report a fight in front of his house wound up arrested on charges of marijuana cultivation and possession and violation of bail conditions.

Waldo County sheriff’s deputies arrested Benjamin Spencer, 37, of Harriman Road following the fight Tuesday morning.

He was being held without bail at the Waldo County Jail on Wednesday.

Deputy Merl Reed said Spencer contacted the sheriff’s department at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday to report that two males fighting outside his home.

Deputies Reed, William Nelson and Jason Bosco responded to the call and were on their way to Spencer’s home when they encountered a vehicle headed toward Belfast with its emergency flashers on.

The driver of the vehicle turned out to be the mother of a 16-year-old male who was apparently injured in the fight.

The teen told deputies he had been head-butted and punched in the face by Scott Noble, 21, of Searsport. The boy received treatment for minor injuries at the Waldo County General Hospital.

When deputies arrived at Spencer’s home, they saw him trying to drive off. Riding with Spencer were Noble and two women, including one, Rebecca Simpson, 19, of Swanville, who was later charged.

The deputies stopped Spencer and began to question him about the fight.

Reed said the officers were aware that Spencer was out on bail for an incident last spring in which he allegedly threatened Deputy Jonah O’Roak with a club. Conditions of his bail required Spencer to submit to a random search when asked. And the deputies told him they wanted to search his home.

Reed said Spencer refused the request and told the two women to run to the house, lock the door and to not open it for the police. At that point Spencer was arrested for violating conditions of his release. Noble was charged with assault and operating without a license. He had been seen driving Spencer’s vehicle earlier in the morning.

As deputies escorted Spencer to a police cruiser he shouted to one of the women “to clean the house and get rid of everything,” Reed said.

While Nelson and Bosco remained at the home, Reed took Spencer and Noble to jail. He obtained a search warrant.

Detectives Greg Stearns and Jason Trundy and Deputy Ben Seekins joined the other deputies and the group searched the Spencer home.

Deputies found processed marijuana, one marijuana plant, knives and other items during the search. At that point they added the offenses of possession of marijuana and marijuana cultivation to Spencer’s charges.

Simpson, allegedly one of the women Spencer had asked to “clean” his house, was accused of hindering apprehension and prosecution, because police believed she had flushed a large quantity of marijuana down the toilet while Reed went to get the search warrant.

Bosco said he noticed the toilet had traces of “a green, leafy substance” floating in the water when he searched the home.