Police arrest fugitive at Ashland residence

ASHLAND – A Massachusetts man was in the Aroostook County Jail on Sunday awaiting extradition proceedings after local police found the fugitive hiding in his cousin’s home in Ashland, Maine State Police Sgt. David McPherson said Sunday.

Thomas Ouellet, 18, of Gardner, Mass., was arrested Saturday afternoon on a warrant from his hometown for an assault to commit homicide. The charge was related to the serious stabbing of a man in Gardner several weeks ago, McPherson said.

McPherson and Officer Steven Kenney of the Ashland Police Department went to the Wrightville Road residence of Allen Ouellet, Thomas Ouellet’s cousin, after developing “information on an alleged fugitive from justice” living there.

McPherson declined to specify how police received the information.

McPherson said that Thomas Ouellet was hiding in the residence and that when he was spotted, he tried to run from police but was quickly apprehended. He was taken in without further incident.

McPherson said Ouellet does not have a criminal record in Maine. He said there are no other charges pending in the case at this time, but that it is still under investigation by the Ashland Police Department.