Father-son scuffle in Medway escalates into 41/2-hour standoff

MEDWAY – An altercation between a son and his wheelchair-bound elderly father on School Street on Saturday escalated into a nearly five-hour standoff when the suspect refused arrest and told officers, “You’ll be hurt if you come in and I’m going to leave in a body bag.”

Samuel Caswell, 53, of Medway, was charged with domestic assault and assault at about 1:40 a.m. Sunday after a state police tactical team, East Millinocket and Millinocket police surrounded the duplex where he lives and negotiated his surrender.

Caswell was arrested without incident and police took from him three large butcher-type knives with which Caswell could conceivably have carried out his threat, East Millinocket Police Chief Garold “Twig” Cramp said.

“We and state police talked to him until he realized the trouble he was in and calmed down,” Cramp said Tuesday. “The state police [negotiator] took over when we ran out of things to say.”

Caswell was arraigned Monday in 3rd District Court in Bangor and released on his own recognizance. He is due in court May 21, court clerks said.

The incident began when East Millinocket police Sgt. Michael Davis and reserve Officer Steve Barker were dispatched to Caswell’s father’s apartment at about 9 p.m. Saturday. Caswell rents a room from his father, 80, and the two had apparently gotten into a physical fight that was interrupted when a next-door neighbor, who had called 911, tried to intercede and was punched by the suspect, Cramp said.

The elder Caswell, who uses a wheelchair because of strokes, and the neighbor suffered slight injuries that did not require treatment. The neighbor was taken by ambulance to Millinocket Regional Hospital as a precaution, Cramp said.

The two officers had arrived and were sorting out the scene when Caswell barricaded himself behind an upstairs bedroom door, Cramp said.

The officers called Cramp to the scene, who attempted to negotiate after he arrived at 9:30 p.m. State police were summoned by 10 p.m. and began to arrive about an hour later, Cramp said. Millinocket police Sgt. Aaron Brooker and Officer Kevin Ingersoll also assisted at the scene.

State police took over negotiations by 1 a.m. The suspect surrendered about 40 minutes later, Cramp said.

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