Man sues police over OUI arrest

BANGOR – The drunken driving charge against John Blackstone was dropped, but the Westfield man still may get his day in court.

Blackstone, 47, filed a civil lawsuit last year in U.S. District Court in Bangor alleging that three Presque Isle police officers, Norbert Quirino, Paul Theriault and Mark Barnes, used excessive force two years ago when they arrested him – the night his daughter, Hope, graduated from Presque Isle High School.

He is seeking $665 for medical expenses, $25,000 for pain and suffering, humiliation and embarrassment and $25,000 in punitive damages, plus attorney’s fees.

A settlement conference with attorneys is scheduled next week in Portland with U.S. District Judge George Singal. A jury trial is scheduled to begin in federal court in Bangor on May 19 if a settlement can not be reached.

The videotape recorded by the cruiser camera showed that Quirino and Theriault pulled Blackstone over shortly after 10 p.m. June 7, 2002, because his pickup truck was weaving in its lane and crossing the centerline, according to court documents. The officers thought they smelled alcohol in the vehicle and asked Blackstone to perform field sobriety tests.

Blackstone insisted he had not been drinking but offered to take a Breathalyzer test at the police station. Quirino, however, administered the field sobriety tests as required by department policy, according to court documents.

Officers have said that because Blackstone is a large, muscular man and due to his demeanor before his arrest, they thought he would resist arrest, so both Quirino and Theriault took hold of their suspect’s wrists.

Blackstone claims that neither officer told him to place his arms behind his back or that he was under arrest.

When Barnes arrived, after hearing scanner traffic about the stop, he saw Blackstone on the ground with the other officers trying to handcuff him. Eventually, Quirino had to use two sets of handcuffs on Blackstone.

Quirino and Theriault have admitted that they did not smell alcohol on Blackstone as they arrested him. At the station, his blood alcohol level registered zero.

Civil suits against law enforcement officers in northern and eastern Maine are infrequent but not rare.

A Fort Fairfield man who sued Presque Isle police officers alleging they used excessive force in his 1996 arrest lost his case in Aroostook County Superior Court in October 2000.

Last month, a Bangor man filed a federal suit similar to Blackstone’s.

Over the past year, the Portland Police Department has either settled or gone to trial in at least five lawsuits alleging excessive force.