LaGrange man driving ATV faces multiple charges

An 18-year-old LaGrange man driving an ATV on a public road failed to stop for a state warden Sunday. When wardens tracked him to his home later, he denied his involvement.

Authorities with the Maine Warden Service charged Wayne D. Turcotte with the criminal offense of failure to stop for a police officer and issued civil citations for operating a motor vehicle on a public way and carrying a passenger under the age of 18 who was not wearing a helmet.

Warden Ron Dunham tried to stop Turcotte on the Decker Road on Sunday afternoon, but Turcotte turned around and drove off onto a trail with his 14-year-old passenger, who was his cousin, warden Sgt. Doug Tibbetts said. Dunham called for assistance and pursued Turcotte.

The trail led to the 18-year-old’s home. Wardens found the ATV behind the home but not Turcotte. Tibbetts said Turcotte showed up later in a car with his girlfriend and initially denied involvement. The mud on his clothing suggested otherwise. Tibbetts said Turcotte then claimed his cousin had been driving, but eventually confessed.

Three men went to Granville Lumber in Holden to pick up roofing supplies after hours Sunday afternoon, but only one was allowed to leave on his own. The other two were arrested on warrants.

A passing motorist became suspicious after seeing the three unloading bundles of shingles and contacted the Holden police. Holden police Lt. Paul Haslam said the trio didn’t have a bill of sale, although a check with the owner verified they had been given permission to take the shingles.

Haslam ran a computer check through dispatch on the names of the three men, and the results didn’t favor two of them. Earl Edgerly, 26, was wanted in Penobscot County on a warrant for two charges of night hunting, while Robert Wagner, 27, was wanted in Hancock County for negotiating a worthless instrument, according to police. The two men were taken into custody.

Haslam said the third man had no warrants and was allowed to leave with the shingles.

Three people survived and were left largely unhurt when the car they were in went out of control in Garland late Friday night, then struck a ditch and rolled over, partially ejecting one of them.

The driver, Jeffery Koscielny, 23, of Cambridge, admitted to having six drinks during the hour before the accident and that he had been speeding, said Penobscot County Sheriff’s Deputy Will Sheehan. Koscielny admitted to going about 45 to 50 mph through a sharp corner on the Exeter Road at about 11 p.m. Friday, Sheehan said.

The car crossed the road into the ditch on the opposite side, rolled over and came to rest on its roof with passenger Stephanie Russell, 21, hanging partially out of the car’s sunroof, said Sheehan. None of the three in the car was wearing a seat belt. Sheehan, other motorists, Koscielny and the third person in the car, William Keype, 24, of Dexter, helped flip the car right side up.

Sheehan said Russell fell out onto the ground and, despite the circumstances, had relatively minor injuries, including numerous bruises and an injured finger.

Koscielny was taken into custody and charged with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicants.

Bangor police and fire departments were called to the Kenduskeag Stream by Franklin and Central streets early Sunday morning after a Hampden man jumped into the water on a dare.

Once in, Louis Leveille couldn’t get out on his own. The Fire Department brought him to shore. Leveille told authorities he jumped off the Franklin Street bridge on a dare, reported Bangor police Officer Dennis Townsend.

Local police charged a number of people with operating motor vehicles while under the influence of intoxicants, including:

. Eric Nathan Dore, 25, of Skowhegan, who claimed he was the designated driver after Bangor police stopped him on Ohio Street early Sunday morning for erratic driving. Dore’s blood alcohol content registered more than twice the legal limit of 0.08.

. Carmen Dinardis, 24, of Pennsylvania, who was spotted by Bangor police about 1:10 a.m. Saturday heading the wrong way down the one-way section of State Street downtown. Dinardis admitted to having about six beers earlier. His blood alcohol content registered 0.16 percent, or twice the legal limit.

. Laura J. Dow, 41, of Bangor, who was stopped by Bangor police at about 11:15 p.m. Saturday after the officer reported she was driving fast and then stopped abruptly. She admitted to having two light beers, and her blood alcohol content registered 0.10 percent.

. Kelly Gagne, 28, of Orono was stopped for erratic driving on the northbound lane of Interstate 95 early Sunday morning by University of Maine Public Safety Officer Amy Nickerson. Orono police Officer Casey Miller investigated the incident and reported that in addition to an OUI charge, two civil summonses were issued to Gagne after a marijuana pipe and marijuana were found in the woman’s purse.

– Compiled by NEWS reporter Doug Kesseli