Escapees’ ‘rendezvous’ leads to charges

WARREN – Two inmates at Bolduc Correctional Facility wandered too far afield last weekend and may face more time behind bars as a result.

Authorities said Tuesday the two men were arrested shortly before midnight Friday as they were leaving a home at 384 Cushing Road, where they had visited a woman and possibly others.

“They didn’t break into the house,” said Warden Jeffrey Merrill. “It was a preplanned rendezvous.”

Bolduc prisoners are free on weekends and holidays to roam the facility and grounds until midnight, Merrill said.

They are required to stay within certain boundaries, and after midnight, inmates are locked in.

According to Merrill, neither of the inmates was in possession of drugs or alcohol.

“It was probably for socialization,” he said of the visit, noting a preliminary report indicates there was some sort of sex involved in the call.

“We suspect they may have done this before,” he said. The incident was still under investigation Tuesday.

The woman – Tammera Arnold, 40 – was arrested on the felony charge of aiding escape, Knox County sheriff’s Chief Deputy Todd Butler said Tuesday.

The inmates – Benjamin Schaab, 26, of the Belfast area, and Richard Maynard, 38, of Massachusetts – will be charged with escape, Merrill said Tuesday. Schaab and Maynard are both serving sentences for robbery.

Arnold’s residence is “within sight of the [Bolduc] facility,” Merrill said, but “it’s clearly off the [state prison] property.”

The woman’s arrest was part of an ongoing investigation by the Sheriff’s Department, federal Drug Enforcement Administration, Maine Drug Enforcement Agency and Thomaston and Rockland police departments, Butler said. He could not provide information on whether drugs were found at the home.

The capture of the prisoners and the arrest of Arnold occurred around 11:20 p.m. Friday. Officials discovered the inmates were missing between prisoner counts at the Bolduc unit, which is a minimum-security facility on Route 97, just west of Maine State Prison.

Counts occur every hour, Merrill said.

“They just walked out,” he said. “I wouldn’t perceive them as a threat to the community.”

Schaab was sentenced to 12 years with all but six years suspended, Merrill said, noting he had one more year to serve. Maynard had two years remaining in a 12-year sentence imposed in Cumberland County.

Merrill did not know how many people were at Arnold’s home, but his understanding was there were people there other than the inmates.

Both prisoners were transferred to Maine State Prison, where they are being held in segregation, he said. The warden is working with the district attorney’s office to bring escape charges and possibly other charges.

Arnold was released on $2,500 unsecured bail Saturday at Knox County Jail, according to a corrections officer. She is scheduled to appear in 6th District Court on May 23.