Facing arrest, man kills himself Fire set by Willimantic resident, resulting explosion keeps police at bay

WILLIMANTIC – A local man reportedly committed suicide Wednesday in a bizarre way on a remote mountain ridge about a mile and a half from the nearest road.

Roberto Morales, 29, set his small tagalong camper on fire and then shot himself inside the camper as officers were attempting to arrest him on several outstanding warrants, according to police.

“We were concerned about what may happen when he was confronted because of his previous threats, but we were still hoping for a peaceful resolution,” Lt. Robert Young of the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Department said Wednesday.

Morales, who had several outstanding felony warrants for his arrest including burglary and theft, some of which were two years old, had reportedly told people in the past that he wanted to kill cops, Young said. Morales also was a convicted sexual predator, he said.

Acting on information, investigators Sgt. Michael Gould and Guy Dow snowshoed Wednesday to a remote area off Route 150 where Morales was believed to be living. When they arrived at the trailer where he reportedly lived once before, they found no one there, but did find snowmobile tracks leading into the woods, Young said.

The officers followed the snowmobile tracks to another trailer located deeper into the forest, according to Young. If they found Morales, Gould and Dow had planned to keep him under surveillance until a team of other officers could arrive to assist in the arrest.

Morales had been successful in eluding police over the years, in part because his German shepherd alerted him when officers neared, Young said.

It was Morales’ dog that tipped him off Wednesday. Young said he didn’t think Morales had been aware the officers were in the vicinity until he let his dog outside. The dog immediately went for Gould and Gould in turn hollered to Morales to call off his dog, the officer said.

Morales reportedly called his dog back inside and asked the officers to come inside to talk with him. He also allegedly told them he had enough explosives to blow off the top of the mountain, according to Young.

Believing the camp may be bobby-trapped, the officers stayed back from the camper until backup arrived. About 10 minutes later after being told that he was under arrest, Morales told the officers “he needed time to think about it” and he shut the door, the officer said.

About five minutes later, Gould noticed a curtain on fire and then the officers heard two gunshots inside the camper. Morales had set his place on fire and they believed he had shot himself, Young said.

Local firefighters were called to the scene but no one could get near the trailer because “thousands of rounds of ammunition” along with an oxygen tank used for welding and propane tanks were exploding, according to officers at the scene.

“There was popping noises and a big whoosh with fireballs coming,” Young recalled.

The trailer was destroyed.

To make sure Morales hadn’t set the fire and fired the gun to distract and elude police again, game wardens did a complete perimeter check for tracks but found none. Morales and his dog had died inside the camper, Young said.

The Maine State Police tactical team was on call during the incident and an explosives team remained on standby, according to the officer.

The investigation has been turned over to the State Fire Marshal’s Office.

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