Cigarette butts lead investigator to drug suspect

Cigarette butts left at a marijuana plot led a Piscataquis County investigator to a Monson man. Blue Benway, 36, of Monson was arrested for cultivating marijuana and possession of hydrocodone, according to Investigator Guy Dow of the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Department.

Dow said the department received a call from a resident who found marijuana plants growing off Route 15. Dow found cigarette butts on the ground, checked the brand and then followed a path from the 12 plants to Benway’s house, he said.

When the butts matched the brand Benway smokes, Dow said, he obtained a search warrant. He said he and other sheriff’s investigators found hydrocodone pills along with a loaded gun and a small amount of marijuana inside a cabinet when Benway’s house was searched. Police also found drug paraphernalia, Dow said. Benway is expected to make his initial court appearance on Oct. 19 in 13th District Court in Dover-Foxcroft. (Diana Bowley, BDN)

The theft of two large spools and some smaller rolls of copper wire Friday, Aug. 30, from the Central Maine Power Co. office on Riverside Avenue is under investigation by Milo police. A similar theft occurred last month at the CMP office in Dover-Foxcroft. In Milo, a hole was dug under a fence to gain entry. The thieves were after only the copper wiring since they left a chain saw and other equipment behind, Milo Police Chief Mike Poulin said Thursday. The wiring was valued at about $1,000, he said.

Poulin said the thieves could have been the same individuals who cut all four tires on the town’s police cruiser earlier that night. The cruiser had been parked at the police station when the vandalism occurred. (Diana Bowley, BDN)

Milo police Officer David Henderson was credited with using great restraint earlier this week after he disarmed a man who held a knife with a 6-inch blade in his hand. Milo Police Chief Mike Poulin said Henderson responded to an emergency call from a Railroad Avenue homeowner who reported a man was “threatening suicide by cop.” When the officer arrived, the young man advanced in a threatening manner toward Henderson holding the knife in his raised hand, the police chief said. The man, who dropped the knife after several commands to do so, was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor for evaluation. (Diana Bowley, BDN)

People driving down State Street in Bangor around 3:18 p.m. Thursday may have seen a woman described by one witness as in her 40s lying naked in the middle of the roadway. Bangor police officers did respond, but no report was filed because it was deemed a medical call and the ambulance service, which does not release information about patients, handled the incident, Lt. Jeff Millard said Thursday. (Nok-Noi Ricker, BDN)

A Bangor transient was arrested Thursday afternoon for trespassing at the Shaw’s Supermarket on Main Street. Paul Clemente, 52, had been banned from the property for a year after being charged last April with theft at the store.

Clement was arrested Thursday after being caught in the store and was taken to Penobscot County Jail, where he remained Thursday evening.

When people are caught stealing from Shaw’s or other retail stores, they typically are given a written trespass notice barring them from entering the establishment for a year, Lt. Jeff Millard said Thursday. (Nok-Noi Ricker, BDN)