AUBURN – A Lewiston man caught on camera as he walked away from a burning car has officially been charged with three counts of arson.
An Androscoggin County grand jury on Tuesday indicted Ryan Jurczak, 23, in connection with what police have described as a fire-setting rampage.
Jurczak, who lives on Park Street, is accused of setting fire to two cars and a pickup truck parked downtown at different locations the night of July 19 and early the next day.
Cameras mounted on top of the police station on Park Street captured an image of Jurczak walking from a burning car near Simones’ Hot Dog Stand on Chestnut Street shortly after midnight, police said.
A police officer investigating the fires found Jurczak sitting on a bench across the street from the police station moments later.
The three vehicles – a 1990 Corsica, a 2002 Hyundai and a Ford Ranger pickup truck – were destroyed, and a garage and building on Canal Street Alley next to the pickup sustained fire damage.
Jurczak has been in Androscoggin County Jail since his arrest. He is scheduled to appear today in Androscoggin County Superior Court to enter a plea on the charges.
Other indictments
The grand jury is a group of 15 to 23 people from the community who meet every five to six weeks to consider allegations that may warrant felony charges.
This month, the group indicted 53 people on a total of 144 counts. They include:
Raymond Samson
A 53-year-old Lewiston man charged with sexually abusing and exploiting children, Samson was indicted on 20 felony charges.
He is accused of forcing minors to perform sexual acts and taking photographs of them in sexual positions. The charges involve six different victims, stemming from incidents that took place over the past three years.
Samson was arrested in April after a tip led police to his apartment at 299 Webster St. While there, investigators seized three computers, several videotapes and printed photographs as evidence.
According to the indictment, two of the alleged victims were younger than 14.
Samson has been charged with four counts of gross sexual assault, three counts of unlawful sexual contact, six counts of sexual exploitation and one count each of sexual abuse of a minor, visual sexual aggression and unlawful sexual touching.
He also was indicted on two counts of possession of sexually explicit material. Police say they seized a child pornography video from his apartment called “DiaperBoyz.”
Samson was taken to Androscoggin County Jail on the night of his arrest. He posted bail, but landed back behind bars two months later when he allegedly attempted to destroy evidence of photographing the young children.
For that allegation, he faces additional charges of violating the conditions of his release and falsifying physical evidence.
Samson is out on bail again and is scheduled to appear in court in September to enter pleas on the charges.
• Carlos Portillo
Accused of repeatedly choking his girlfriend while threatening to kill her, Portillo was indicted on four felonies, including attempted murder.
The 22-year-old was arrested July 1 after his girlfriend called police to report that she had been assaulted. Police arrived at the woman’s Blake Street apartment in Lewiston to find her with injuries to her throat.
She told police that Portillo had tried to strangle her for a half-hour, at one point pressing his foot on her throat.
Portillo was gone when the officers arrived, but he returned to the apartment later in the day and police said they found him hiding in the closet.
At the time of his arrest, Portillo was free on bail for earlier charges of drunken driving and driving with a suspended license. As a result, he was also indicted on a charge of violating the conditions of his release.
Along with other inmates indicted Tuesday, he is to enter pleas in court this afternoon.
• Derek Palange
A man who once sued a Lewiston police officer, alleging police brutality, was indicted Tuesday on a charge of assault in connection with a July 21 incident involving a woman.
This is the second time Derek Palange, 29, of Sabattus, has been charged with assault. His first arrest in 1999 is what led to his federal lawsuit against Officer Randy St. Laurent.
St. Laurent was one of several officers who responded to Palange’s house in Sabattus on Dec. 5, 1999, after the manager of the Holiday Motel in Lewiston called police to report that a man was trying to break into a room where his girlfriend was staying.
According to police, Palange showed up at the hotel after his girlfriend left him with their children at their house in Sabattus. After the girlfriend refused to come out, police said, Palange broke through a window, shoved his 5-year-old daughter through it, then reached in and grabbed the girl back, Benjamin continued.
By the time police arrived at the motel, Palange was gone, so the officers headed to his house in Sabattus. Palange claimed that St. Laurent grabbed him by the neck and threw him to the ground twice during the incident.
After a jury trial in U.S. District Court, jurors concluded that Palange failed to present enough evidence to support his claim.
Palange is due in court next month to answer the new charge.
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