Custom donation box at Orono bog walk stolen

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A donation box was stolen from the Orono Bog Boardwalk, which begins in the Bangor City Forest, sometime in the past two weeks, according to the boardwalk’s founder and first director Ron Davis.

Davis, now a volunteer, went to collect donations from the box around 6:15 a.m. Monday but found that someone had cut through the padlock and carried off the heavy box.

Davis estimated the missing cash and custom-designed and -constructed box are worth about $2,500. He called the theft “a substantial and disheartening loss for the popular boardwalk.”

Donations to the boardwalk go toward its operation, maintenance and educational programs. About 30,000 visitors used the boardwalk or its educational programs in 2006, according to a press release.

Any information about the theft should be reported to Bangor Police Officer Dennis Townsend at 947-7384. (Nick McCrea, BDN)

Orono police arrested an Old Town man outside 103 Ultra Lounge early Sunday after he threatened to stab several people with a pocketknife.

Police received a complaint that a man, later identified as Stevie Baston, 22, of Old Town, was standing outside the club and telling people that he would “stick ’em,” according to Sgt. Scott Scripture, who read from the police report. Baston did not injure any of the patrons or employees he confronted.

After interviewing several witnesses and finding the knife in Baston’s pants pocket, officers arrested Baston and charged him with threatening. He was taken to Penobscot County Jail. (Nick McCrea, BDN)

An apparently drunk driver who veered off Stillwater Avenue in Orono, nearly careening into the bog, ended up behind bars early Sunday morning, according to Orono police Sgt. Scott Scripture.

Police arrived around 3:15 a.m. and found Christopher Higgins, 21, still seated in the driver’s seat of his car, even though a wrecker was on the scene.

Higgins told the officers that he was driving to Old Town to drop off a cell phone to a friend but lost control when his car drifted onto the shoulder.

While he was talking to the officers, they noticed his speech was slurred and his breath smelled of alcohol, Scripture said. After Higgins reportedly failed a field sobriety test, Officer Chris Foxworthy arrested him on a charge of operating under the influence of intoxicants.

Higgins was taken to Penobscot County Jail, and an Intoxilyzer test revealed he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.12 percent, according to Scripture. The legal limit for driving in Maine is 0.08 percent. (Nick McCrea, BDN)

An employee of a Rite Aid drugstore in Dexter reported seeing a woman take about $42 worth of cosmetics and jewelry from the store Monday. Police Chief Art Roy, who responded to the call, summoned Loucreatia Cook, 29, of Dexter for theft. Her initial court appearance is June 27 in 3rd District Court in Newport. (Diana Bowley, BDN)

A traffic stop Sunday on High Street in Milo resulted in charges against a Lincoln woman and her passenger.

Beth Langley, 32, was stopped by Milo Police Chief Michael Poulin for allegedly traveling 38 mph in a 25-mph zone. When she rolled down her window, Poulin said, he inquired about the smell of marijuana that came from her vehicle.

Langley’s passenger, John Carter, 27, of Lincoln, allegedly reached into his pocket and withdrew an inch-long joint, Poulin said Sunday night. Carter also produced a bag of marijuana, according to the police chief.

Poulin also found a pot pipe inside the vehicle’s console when he searched the vehicle.

Carter was summoned for possession of a useable amount of marijuana and for possession of drug paraphernalia. He is expected to make his initial court appearance June 8 in 13th District Court in Dover-Foxcroft.

Langley was charged with speeding and received a warning because her license had expired April 4. (Diana Bowley, BDN)

Members of the Hancock County Underage Drinking Task Force broke up a party early Sunday morning in Bar Harbor and summoned 10 people ranging in age from 15 to 19.

Acting on an anonymous tip, police officers converged at a residence just after 3 a.m. and found a 17-year-old male apparently hosting a drinking party. He was charged with furnishing a place for minors to consume alcohol.

Another 17-year-old male and a 15-year-old female, who were not identified because they are under 18, were charged with possession or consumption of alcohol by a minor.

Also charged with possession or consumption of alcohol by a minor were: Samuel Burne, 19, Bar Harbor; Sean Wignal, 18, Mount Desert; Norman Albee, 18, Trenton; Reid Swanson, 18, Mount Desert; Brian Harding, 19, Bar Harbor; Nedra Wheeler, 18, Blue Hill; and Nicholas Fountain, 19, Mount Desert. (Eric Russell, BDN)

A woman crashed her vehicle into a guardrail Saturday afternoon on Route 1A in Dedham, only minutes after a witness told police the same car was weaving all over the road.

Katie Nadeau, 25, of Bradley was driving north on Route 1A toward Bangor when she lost control of her 1999 Pontiac sedan and struck a guardrail near the Lucerne Inn, according to police reports.

Hancock County sheriff’s deputies already were heading in that direction after a motorist called to report that the Pontiac was weaving across both sides of the road, police said.

Nadeau, who totaled her vehicle in the accident, suffered upper body injuries and was taken by ambulance to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. (Eric Russell, BDN)