Four Mexico firefighters on probation after alcohol bust
RUMFORD — Four young Mexico firefighters charged with alcohol-related crimes at an underage drinking party early Sunday morning were put on probation for 60 days Tuesday by fire Chief Gary Wentzell.
The firefighters are Benjamin Sarle, 19; Joseph Bruns, 20; and Justin Tidswell, 20, all of Rumford; and Seth Marshall, 20, of Mexico. The probation puts them on notice that if they get into any other trouble during those 60 days, they will be suspended, Wentzell said.
Last year, Marshall, a charter member of the Mexico Police Department Explorers Club, was named the Part-Time Employee of the Year in Mexico. Sarle, Marshall and Bruns are honor roll graduates of Mountain Valley High School.
At 12:23 a.m. Sunday at Sarle's home at 330 Maple St., Rumford police arrested and charged him with furnishing a place for minors to consume alcohol and possession of alcohol by a minor. He was released on $100 cash bail and will be arraigned on Dec. 8 in Rumford District Court.
Bruns, Tidswell, Marshall and Joshua Turcotte, 18, of Bangor, were each summoned on a charge of possession of alcohol by a minor. They will also be arraigned Dec. 8 in the Rumford court.
The four firefighters notified Wentzell of the party and the resulting charges at 12:30 a.m. Sunday, the chief said. He said any further disciplinary action against the young men would be pending the outcome of their court cases.
According to the Rumford police report, four Rumford and Mexico officers responding to a 12:07 a.m. complaint of underage drinking at the Maple Street home found underage people drinking alcohol.
Bruns, a private first class with the 142nd Aviation, Army National Guard out of Bangor, pleaded guilty last year to a charge of underage drinking after police raided a pre-graduation party in Roxbury. He was one of 19 Mountain Valley seniors charged in that raid, and was fined $200.
Chippy says
I think that the drinking age should be lowered to 18 because if you are old enough to serve your country in the armed forces, you should be able to have a drink. At least these guys were in a basement and not drinking and driving.