Three arrests keep Down East court busy in morning session

MACHIAS – There was law and there was order Wednesday inside the Washington County Courthouse.

It didn’t start out that way.

Two Winter Harbor women and a man from Columbia were taken into custody after incidents shortly after they arrived for morning District Court action.

Police said the man had a blood-alcohol level of 0.16 percent; one of the women tested positive for opiates and marijuana in her system; and the other woman joked about having a gun with her.

Washington County sheriff’s Deputy Frank Gardiner made the three arrests, all before 9:30 a.m.

It began when the Winter Harbor women arrived in a court hallway that was packed with people waiting to be called for their cases.

Mandi Parker was scheduled to answer charges of driving under the influence, failure to stop for an officer and speeding 30 mph more than the posted limit. She brought a friend, Barbara McAuliffe, for support.

Passing through a metal detector, McAuliffe allegedly said in jest: “Wow, my gun didn’t even set it off!”

Jeff Currier, a Maine Forest Service ranger sitting nearby, heard the comment and called to Deputy Gardiner.

Gardiner immediately sent District Judge John Romei from the nearby courtroom to his chambers as a precaution.

The women, meanwhile, had together entered a women’s restroom contiguous to the judge’s chambers, the deputy said.

Gardiner found them there. He did not find a gun on McAuliffe, who had realized her mistake and was apologizing for her comment.

“She said she didn’t think it was funny anymore,” Gardiner said Thursday, recounting the busy morning. “We didn’t either, with all we have to do for security these days.”

The officer arrested McAuliffe on charges of criminal threatening. She was later released from the jail on $500 bail.

As for Parker, who already had bail conditions that precluded use of illegal drugs, Gardiner requested that she provide a urine sample. That tested positive for both opiates and marijuana, he said.

Parker also was jailed but without bail privileges. She is scheduled to appear in court Friday.

Next came Thomas Bradley of Columbia. Arriving for his trial on charges of harassment by telephone, Bradley didn’t make it past officers in the hallway, who said they caught the odor of alcohol. A test revealed the alcohol level in his blood to be 0.16, according to police.

This was the second time in a month that Bradley had arrived for a court date under the influence, said Assistant District Attorney Bill Entwistle. In June, Bradley was waiting in the courtroom when a bailiff ordered him tested to determine his blood-alcohol content. His trial was continued to a later date.