September 21, 2024
Column

Cell phone helps police nab man who fled club

A drunken patron eluded police who were searching for him after he punched a hole in a wall at an Orono nightclub Saturday night. Eventually located and arrested, the person was identified through a cell phone call to his mother.

Alex Gray, the owner of Ushuaia on Park Street, called police around 11:30 p.m. after hearing a loud sound come from the men’s restroom. He found a man whose hand reportedly was bleeding and covered in dust from the gypsum wallboard.

According to reports, Ushuaia staff attempted to subdue the man, later identified as Michael Tibbetts, 22, of Lamoine, until police arrived, but Tibbetts broke free and ran into the woods behind the club.

Officers Derek Dinsmore and Wilfred King and Sgt. Scott Scripture were met at the club by staff who had found a cell phone ringing in the woods. The phone, which reportedly belonged to Tibbetts, had received a text message from a friend telling him to stay away because “there were hundreds of cops looking for him.”

Police found the friend who had sent the message, who claimed he did not really know Tibbetts. It later was revealed that they were best friends.

At that point, Tibbetts came out of the woods behind the University Credit Union Tech Center next door to the club. According to police, he was highly intoxicated, covered in mud, soaking wet and wearing no shoes.

After a short chase officers subdued Tibbetts, who gave them a false name. One of the officers dialed a number saved in the phone. It turned out to be Tibbetts’ mother, who told police his real name and that he was on probation.

The officers contacted his probation officer, who recommended that police arrest Tibbetts and take him to Penobscot County Jail for violating his probation. The officers did so, along with charging him with criminal mischief. He remained at the jail Sunday night.

A motorist distracted for a moment rear-ended a parked car on North Main Street in Brewer, causing heavy damage to one vehicle and minor injuries in what police said could have been a lot worse.

Shafe Miller, 26, of Eddington told police that she looked down for a moment and when she looked back up it was too late. The pickup truck she was driving ran into the back of a car driven by Mary Thompson, 52, of Brewer, who had pulled over to the side of the road because of engine problems.

The impact sent the parked car 100 feet forward, and the truck spun around, ending up in front of the car on a lawn.

“I’m not sure how it managed that maneuver at this point,” Brewer police Cpl. Roger Hershey said Saturday.

Hershey said the accident could have been a lot worse had Thompson been outside the car. Injuries were fairly minor, Hershey said, and included bumps on the heads of both women.

Brewer police arrested Wayne Aubrey, 35, of Brewer on Saturday after it was reported he had argued with a fellow tenant, grabbed her by the throat and pushed her against the wall of a common hallway.

Aubrey denied doing it, but witnesses to the incident at the South Main Street apartment confirmed what the woman said. Aubrey was summoned on a charge of assault, Brewer police Cpl. Anthony Pinette said Saturday.

A Bangor woman with a warrant already out for her arrest was taken into custody and charged Thursday night with assault and possession of marijuana.

The Bangor police report stated that after an argument, Elizabeth Lewey, 42, of Bangor threw a beer bottle at another woman, striking her in the leg. When police arrived, Lewey had left the scene.

An hour later, Officer Jason Stuart found Lewey at a nearby apartment and arrested her. Stuart found a snort tube with white powder in it and marijuana in Lewey’s pockets, according to the report.

Lewey is scheduled to appear in court July 13.

– Compiled by BDN reporters Emily Burnham, Tim Robertson and Doug Kesseli


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