SANDY RIVER PLANTATION – A man accused of assaulting his girlfriend early Tuesday and allegedly using a gun in the commission of the crime was apprehended after a nearly nine-hour police search, state police said Tuesday.
Jason R. Clifford, 27, of Sandy River Plantation was arrested at 12:45 p.m. in Phillips and charged with terrorizing with a dangerous weapon, assault, theft by unauthorized taking and violating conditions of bail, state police Lt. Dale Lancaster said. He had been released on bail after his arrest Sept. 4 by Rangeley police on a charge of drunk and disorderly conduct.
About two dozen law enforcement personnel looked for Clifford on Tuesday. These included state troopers, Franklin County deputies, Maine drug enforcement agents, game wardens, the State Police Tactical Team and a state police plane.
Clifford was being held Tuesday night without bail at the Franklin County jail in Farmington, a jail officer said.
Police received a report of the assault about 3:50 a.m. when Clifford’s girlfriend, whose name is not being released, said Clifford had assaulted her inside the couple’s home at 19 Gray Road in Sandy River Plantation, Lancaster said.
The woman declined medical attention, he said.
According to a press release issued Tuesday by Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland, the couple had recently moved to Sandy River Plantation from East Falmouth, Mass.
Police also believed that Clifford had left the residence with a .22-caliber handgun, which was not in his possession when he was apprehended, the release stated. No shots were fired, it stated.
Lancaster said police allege that Clifford physically assaulted his girlfriend and that a firearm was used in the commission of the crime.
Clifford left the residence in his girlfriend’s car, which he abandoned in Phillips after a brief chase by a trooper, Lancaster said.
Clifford then tried to steal another car from a residence on Route 4, Lancaster said, but Trooper Scott Stevens spotted him and thwarted the attempt. Clifford fled into the woods on foot and police concentrated their effort, he said. Stevens had obtained an arrest warrant for Clifford during the search, he added.
Franklin County Detective Tom White and a drug agent spotted Clifford as he came out of the woods above Bear Hill Variety in Phillips and arrested him without incident, Lancaster said.
Comments are no longer available on this story