Police search home of man charged in hostage event

SEARSPORT – A search of the home of Randall Hofland, who is charged with taking hostages at Stockton Springs Elementary School, has yielded a cache of goods allegedly stolen from a retired sea captain.

Hofland, 55, of Searsport is being held at the York County Jail on charges of taking 11 fifth grade students hostage while armed with a handgun on Oct. 31 and pulling a handgun on a Searsport police officer a week earlier. He is being held on $1 million bail.

Police Chief Dick LeHaye said a team of officers executed a search warrant at Hofland’s Route 1 residence last Friday in connection with the case.

“We recovered thousands and thousands of dollars worth of heirlooms and other items that were allegedly stolen from Capt. George Perkins between 2001 and 2004,” LeHaye said Tuesday.

Hofland lived at Perkins’ Stockton Springs home for a number of years and served as his caregiver. Perkins attended Hofland’s initial appearance in Belfast District Court on Nov. 3 and indicated that Hofland had taken the items during a period when he was severely ill and was thought to have had Alzheimer’s. It was later determined that Perkins suffered from a brain injury, and when he regained his health, he realized his property and money were missing and dismissed Hofland, he said that day.

Belfast private detective Gary Boynton of World Wide Investigations has spent much of the past year working with Perkins to recover his property. Boynton had briefed the Attorney General’s Office on the situation a few weeks before the Searsport and Stockton Springs Elementary School incidents.

LeHaye declined to detail the items recovered during the search. He said he had already been in touch with Deputy District Attorney Eric Walker about the matter and that he expected criminal charges would be considered in the future.

“It’s still under investigation, and there may be additional charges,” LeHaye said.

wgriffin@bangordailynews.net

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