Former Bangor councilor arrested

Former Bangor City Council Chairman Richard Greene, 52, was arrested early Monday morning on a warrant issued for failing to appear at a Nov. 6 court hearing, according to Veazie Police Chief Mark Leonard. The chief said the Nov. 6 hearing had been scheduled because Greene failed to appear for a previous court date related to his not complying with a District Court judgment against him.

Leonard said Greene, now a resident of Veazie, also faces two counts of negotiating a worthless instrument for bad checks totaling $127.91. Police are looking at a possible third bad check, the chief said.

Leonard said Greene had been given time to make good on the checks, but had failed to do so by the deadline he was given. Greene since has been released on bail. (Dawn Gagnon, BDN)

A Bangor couple got his-and-hers charges on Tuesday after completion of an investigation into a Nov. 4 accident in Veazie.

Veazie police Officer Paul Haslan was using radar on Chase Road when he spotted a speeder on Nov. 4, Police Chief Mark Leonard said Wednesday. As Haslan approached the car, he saw it swerve over the centerline and sideswipe an oncoming vehicle, Leonard said.

What struck Haslan as odd was that the woman who claimed to be driving, 27-year-old Emily Whitaker, was in the passenger seat, the chief said. Also odd was that a male, Todd Whitaker, 32, left the vehicle from the passenger side – facing the rear, the chief said.

Due to a potential conflict regarding his involvement in the case, Haslan called upon state police Trooper Kyle Willette to continue the investigation, which wrapped up Tuesday when the couple admitted that Todd Whitaker had been driving and that he and his wife swapped seats because his license was suspended, Leonard said.

Todd Whitaker was charged with operating after suspension and Emily Whitaker was charged with providing false information on an accident report, the chief said. (Dawn Gagnon, BDN)

A teenager walking along Stillwater Avenue in Bangor on Tuesday evening was so intimidated by three strange men who offered her a ride, she offered up her purse to get them to go away, police say.

The group of unidentified men first drove by the 17-year-old Bangor girl screaming at her, according to the police report. Then they turned around and stopped to offer her a ride. She refused, but when one of the men left the vehicle, described as an older red hatchback, and said he liked her purse, she “offered her purse, if they would leave her alone,” Bangor police Lt. Tim Reid said Wednesday. “He took a small amount of cash out of it” and also pushed her at some point during the confrontation.

The suspect who approached the teenager is described as a white man in his late teens or early 20s of average height and weight, Reid said. The teenager was shaken by the incident, but otherwise unhurt, he said. (Nok-Noi Ricker, BDN)