November 14, 2024
Column

Man seeking steak arrested for drunken driving

A Pittsfield motorist wanted for erratic driving in Old Town early Sunday afternoon was arrested eight hours later in Orono and charged with drunken driving.

About 10 p.m. on Halloween, the Orono Police Department was alerted to a car that had driven over the curb by the intersection of College Avenue and Park Street. Officer Casey Miller said she found the car stopped at the Thriftway supermarket farther down Park Street.

Driver Terrance McCannell, 55, of Pittsfield said he was buying a steak for dinner.

Old Town police Officer Brent Fournier arrived and told Casey the same vehicle was seen being driven erratically in Old Town at 2 p.m., but he had been unable to locate it.

Miller arrested McCannell after field sobriety tests and reported that the motorist’s blood alcohol content registered 0.20 percent on the Intoxilyzer, more than twice the legal limit.

Brewer firefighters were called to the Eastern Fine Paper Co. shortly before 3 p.m. Monday in answer to a report of smoke inside the building.

Brewer Economic Development Director Drew Sachs said contractors working for creditors were trying to remove a beater used in the pulping process at the defunct mill. Bits of molten metal fell from welders’ torches into dry pulp and ignited a small fire the firefighters quickly put out, he said.

On patrol about 12:30 a.m. Saturday, Orono police Officer Casey Miller recognized a Greenbush man who appeared intoxicated, despite having bail conditions prohibiting him from drinking. Miller had arrested Jeremy Schmersal, 18, three days earlier for driving while intoxicated.

Saturday Schmersal said he had four to five drinks and Miller arrested him, charging him with violation of condition of release and possession of alcohol by a minor by consumption.

At the Penobscot County Jail, Miller tried to get Schmersal to take an Intoxilyzer test, but the man refused, saying he wanted to go to the bathroom first, according to the police report.

Schmersal also refused to sign the two summonses, prompting a third charge of refusing to sign a summons.

– Compiled by NEWS reporter Doug Kesseli


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