Man seen outside school arrested

STACYVILLE – Suspicion on the part of SAD 25 Superintendent John Doe on Thursday helped police nab an individual who investigators say was reportedly acting oddly at several locations across the state and who eventually turned out to be wanted on four outstanding warrants.

Doe happened to glance out a window at the Katahdin Elementary School on Thursday and saw a vehicle pull into the yard that made him take another look at both the car and the person driving it.

“The vehicle was an older type model that had a lot of stickers on it; it was a type of vehicle that you wouldn’t normally see around here,” he explained Friday. “I saw the driver try to go around one corner of the building, so I went out into the parking lot and over to the vehicle.”

Maine State Police say the man in the vehicle was Raymond Thurber, 59, who later was arrested during a traffic stop as he entered Presque Isle.

Doe said that when he spoke to Thurber in the parking lot, the man said that he had some stickers that he wanted to pass out to the pupils. The superintendent told Thurber that he needed to leave the property, and he left without incident. School officials then reported his behavior and his plate number to the police.

State police Sgt. Dave McPherson said that police had received numerous complaints about Thurber, who allegedly was acting oddly around several businesses and schools from Waterville to Mars Hill. Police received two more complaints from the public in the Mars Hill area about Thurber disrupting business, according to McPherson.

Trooper Rob Flynn located Thurber driving on Route 1 into Presque Isle on Thursday afternoon. After conducting a traffic stop, Thurber was arrested without incident on four outstanding warrants of violation of condition of release, terrorizing, harassment by telephone, and stalking.

Thurber originally was held without bail at the Aroostook County Jail. Jail Administrator James Foss said Friday that Thurber was wanted on the charges in Somerset County and had been taken back to that area.