VEAZIE – Police arrested a Lincoln man during the weekend and summoned four other people with him after a traffic stop turned confrontational.
Sgt. Keith Emery of the Veazie Police Department stopped a minivan on State Street about 1:20 a.m. Saturday for speeding. After it stopped, Emery could hear a commotion inside. A man was screaming and there were thumping noises.
“The van was rocking,” Emery said.
Inside the minivan, a backseat passenger later identified as Brandon Meeker, 21, jumped to the front seat and subsequently lunged to the back seat and began attacking another passenger, Emery said. Meeker wouldn’t calm down or come out of the van, and when a Taser failed after both prongs didn’t connect, Emery pulled Meeker out of the van.
The struggle continued on the street. Meeker flailed his arms and legs, despite repeated warnings to calm down made by Maine State Trooper Seth Edwards, who arrived with his police dog Boris as backup, Emery said. Boris bit Meeker, allowing police to handcuff the man.
As the police were dealing with Meeker, the others who had been in the van kept approaching the officers, prompting Emery to order them back, including with the Taser.
“I had to keep diverting my attention to them for our own safety,” Emery said.
Officers from Bangor and Orono arrived and four people from the minivan – Dawn Marble, 46; her husband, Richard Marble, 47, of Burlington; Meeker’s father, Charles Meeker, 52, of Lincoln; and Jon Whitney, 38, of Lincoln – were charged with obstructing governmental administration.
A fifth person in the minivan was not charged at the scene but still could be charged, Emery said.
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