Threatening phone call spurs arrest Baileyville man charged with terrorizing former girlfriend at hospital

Bangor police on Wednesday charged a Baileyville man with domestic terrorizing after his former girlfriend reported that he threatened to slit her throat.

The 39-year-old woman was at St. Joseph Hospital in Bangor when she called former boyfriend Dwayne Whalen, 25, to let him know when his mother could come pick up the remainder of his stuff. The woman had kicked him out several days earlier.

Whalen became angry and told his former girlfriend that when she got out of the hospital he was “going to slit her throat from ear to ear,” she told Bangor police Officer Eric Tourtelotte. The woman said she stopped a nurse and had her listen in as Whalen reiterated his threat and also asked where he could find his shotgun.

Baileyville police arrested Whalen in that Washington County town and met up with Bangor police in Wesley, also in Washington county, to transfer the man into their custody. Whalen didn’t want to talk to police, according to the report.

Whalen’s former girlfriend kicked him out of her home in Argyle in Penobscot County – where he had lived with the woman and her three children for 22 months – after learning he had totaled her unregistered vehicle and had a party at her home while she was away. Some of those drinking at the party were reportedly underage.

Whalen was taken to Penobscot County Jail.

Thursday’s storm brought snow and accidents throughout the region. Police departments in Bangor, Brewer and surrounding areas were reporting motor vehicles off the road. Most of the accidents involved minor or no injuries to drivers and passengers.

Road conditions were difficult and visibility poor on Route 9 about 6 p.m. in Clifton where a motorist lost control on a curve east of Parks Pond and went off the road, reported state Trooper Phil Pushard.

The Chrysler PT Cruiser drove off the road, struck some ledges and rolled onto its roof, the trooper said. Driver Judith Archer, 65, of Bangor complained of neck and head pain and about 10 p.m. remained at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, where she was still being evaluated.

Judith Rabon, 54, of Bangor, a passenger in the car, suffered injuries to her hands and arms and was treated at EMMC and then released. The car was a total loss, said Pushard.

State troopers in the Bangor region handled about a half-dozen accidents from the afternoon into the evening.

A Carmel man whose driving privilege was curbed because of a previous drunken driving conviction was arrested early Thursday morning in Bangor and charged with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicants.

Gary L. Verrill, 59, was also charged with being a habitual offender, a designation given for anyone who has three or more convictions for motor vehicle- related violations such as OUI, driving to endanger or operating a motor vehicle without a license. Verrill was previously convicted for OUI in October 2004.

Early Thursday morning, Verrill’s erratic driving and speed caught the attention of Bangor police Officer Dan Herrick, who reported that the Carmel man’s pickup truck was weaving on Hammond Street. At one point, the vehicle straddled the centerline, according to the report.

Despite this, Verrill denied having had anything to drink. But based on his observations, including during field sobriety tests, Herrick arrested Verrill and took him to the Penobscot County Jail where the man’s blood-alcohol content registered 0.10 percent on the Intoxilyzer test, above the 0.08 percent limit. Verrill’s license had been suspended and had been conditional, requiring that he have no alcohol in his system.

It was very cold early Thursday morning when a Bangor police officer stopped a motorist for erratic driving.

The Dodge pickup truck had the wrong license plate, which read “ALLPRO.” The driver was wearing only a sweatshirt and jeans. Authorities said they also determined that the driver was intoxicated.

The driver, Stacy L. Pilkington, 33, of Hermon stopped at a yellow flashing light in Bangor, drawing the attention of Bangor police Officer Steve Pelletier. A license plate check determined the plate belonged on a white Ford pickup truck. The report did not say if Pilkington owned such a truck.

Pilkington admitted to having two beers earlier and told the officer had he known he was being followed he would have taken a cab home. At the police station, Pilkington’s blood alcohol content registered 0.16 percent, or twice the legal limit of 0.08 percent and Pelletier summoned the Hermon man on a charge of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicants.

Pilkington then took a cab home.

– Compiled by NEWS reporter Doug Kesseli