A fight at the Mason’s Jar in Mechanic Falls resulted in damage to a police cruiser.
By Steve Hargreaves
Special to the Sun Journal

Mechanic Falls – Town councilors have ordered local officials to meet with owners of the Mason’s Jar following a Halloween brawl at the downtown pub that resulted in charges levied against four people and a broken police cruiser window.

Councilor Walter Lowe raised the issue at Monday’s Town Council meeting. Lowe told Town Manager Dana Lee and other officials to remind the bar’s owners that their liquor license was subject to yearly renewal by the council.

According to Lee, a fight broke out Friday night behind the Mason’s Jar between members of two families. Only a single town police officer was available to try to quell the brawl and subdue suspects until backup arrived from the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office and the Auburn Police Department.

That initial shortage of police led one suspect to attempt to free another suspect, who was handcuffed and in the back of a police car, by breaking the cruiser’s rear window with a baseball bat.

Arrested were:

• Christopher Violette, 19, of 31 South Main St., on a charge of criminal mischief;

• Susan Purington, 41, of 31 South Main St., on charges of criminal mischief and disorderly conduct; and

• Michael Cunneen, 35, of 68 Brown Road, on a charge of assault.

A fourth man, Anthony Purington, 43, of 31 South Main St., was summonsed on a charge of assault.

Lee said the Mason’s Jar hasn’t had an unusual number of disturbances and town officials would work with the bar’s owners to prevent further trouble.

In other business:

• Councilors voted to change the land-use ordinance requiring cul-de-sacs at the end of dead-end roads. The new ordinance would replace the cul-de-sac with a T-type, or hammerhead, turnaround. Officials said the hammerhead turnaround is cheaper to build and saves space.

• Councilors heard that the town was denied a grant request made to the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation to fund repairs to its tennis courts. Lee said other grant money may be available or the town could reduce the estimated $24,000 cost by using volunteer labor.

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