Old Town pair swap seats; both charged with OUI

Brewer police arrested two drivers from Old Town who were refused alcohol at a convenience store Tuesday night.

Officer Rodney Gerald reported that at about 10 p.m. an employee at the Big Apple store on South Main Street called dispatch. She said that a man and a woman who appeared to be drunk had just tried to buy alcohol at the store. The employee said that when she refused to sell to them, they left in a gray sedan, the man driving.

Officer Gerald began driving from Wilson Street toward Main Street to intercept the sedan. He noticed a car coming the other way with its high beams on. Gerald said he tried to signal the driver to turn off the high beams, but they stayed on.

Gerald said he tried to pull the car over, but it kept going, turning onto Acme Road. Gerald noted that it was a gray sedan. As the car traveled slowly down Acme Road, Gerald said, he saw the passenger and driver switch seats.

When the car finally stopped, Gerald radioed for backup. He found a woman in the driver’s seat and a man in the passenger’s seat.

Gerald arrested the woman after she performed poorly on sobriety tests, charging her with operating under the influence. Gerald said Margaret Chavaree, 46, of Old Town registered almost three times the legal limit of blood-alcohol on a breath test.

Officer Jeff Gotreau spoke with the male suspect, Gerald said, and after sobriety tests arrested him on charges of OUI and operating after license suspension. Gerald said Donald Francis, 49, of Old Town refused a breath test.

Bangor police say driver inattention resulted in a Tuesday afternoon crash that totaled two cars and damaged two others.

Officer Russell Parsons reported that at about 1 p.m., Patricia Gordet, 58, of Hermon stopped her 2002 Chevrolet pickup truck at the intersection of Fourth and Cedar streets. Parsons said Gordet then continued through the intersection, striking a 1994 Chevrolet SUV, driven by Pamela Martin, 52, of Brewer, in its right front quarter.

Parsons said the SUV continued moving, and struck two cars parked on the left side of the street. The crash caused $3,400 in damage to one car and $1,500 to the other. Parsons said Gordet’s and Martin’s vehicles were both totaled.

Parsons said Gordet and her passenger both complained of bruises to their heads, and Martin complained of leg pain.

A man convicted of bank fraud in Missouri was arrested Tuesday in Hampden for violating his supervised release.

Hampden police arrested Herbert Warrender on a federal warrant.

In July 2000, according to court documents, Warrender was sentenced to three years in prison for bank fraud, after pleading guilty to the charge in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo. Court documents say Warrender also was sentenced to five years of supervised release and ordered to pay nearly $84,000 to three financial institutions.

Warrender transferred his supervised release to Connecticut in February. A warrant was issued for his arrest for violation of the conditions of his supervised release in early October.

– Compiled by NEWS reporters Isaac Kimball and Judy Harrison