RUMFORD – A routine police stop early Thursday morning of a suspected drunken driver quickly spiraled out of control after the motorist stopped outside a Rumford bar.
In the ensuing mob scene as patrons spilled out of the Hotel Rumford tavern on Canal Street and confronted the officers, one patrolman was injured, four people were arrested, a police cruiser was damaged enough to be rendered unusable, and officers had to be called in from neighboring towns to restore order, police said later Thursday morning.
In a news release Thursday, Detective Sgt. George Cayer stated that at 12:30 a.m., Patrolmen Peter Casey and Matthew Noyes stopped driver Joseph N. Bordeau, 41, of Mexico, near the bar.
While the officers were questioning Bordeau, 20 people gathered around them, several of whom were acting unruly, Cayer stated.
“The crowd continued to be disorderly and failed to disperse after having been ordered to do so by the officers,” he said.
Casey then arrested Bordeau, charging him with operating under the influence and refusal to submit to a breath test.
Bordeau was handcuffed and placed in the rear of a cruiser, but left alone when Casey went to help Noyes, who was struggling with a man while trying to arrest him for disorderly conduct, Cayer said.
At some point during the mayhem, Noyes suffered a lacerated leg and bruises, and the rear window was smashed out of the cruiser in which Bordeau was placed. Both rear doors were also substantially damaged, he said.
Police alleged that Bordeau kicked out the cruiser’s rear window and the locked doors from the inside, Cayer said.
“It was clear that the damage occurred from someone inside the cruiser,” he said.
Bordeau was subsequently summoned for aggravated criminal mischief to a police cruiser, a Class C felony.
“Anytime someone renders a police cruiser inoperable, it’s a Class C crime,” Cayer said.
Bordeau was released on $700 unsecured bail.
Also arrested were:
• Michael L. Merrill, 40, of Rumford, on charges of disorderly conduct, refusal to submit to arrest, and criminal mischief. Additionally, he was summoned for possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was released on $800 unsecured bail.
• Timothy J. Phair, 22, of Portland, on charges of obstructing government administration and failure to disperse. He was released on $500 unsecured bail.
• Tyler R. Curtis, 23, of Dixfield, on charges of obstructing government administration and failure to disperse. He failed to post $1,000 cash bail and was taken to Oxford County Jail in Paris. A jail official said Thursday evening that Curtis later posted the bail and was released.
All four are to be arraigned at 8:30 a.m. Feb. 7 in Rumford District Court.
Med-Care Ambulance was called to the police station to treat an injured prisoner, but it was unclear if Noyes was treated at the station or went to Rumford Hospital. Completed reports about the incident had yet to be filed.
Cayer estimated damage to the cruiser at $1,500. The department activated a backup cruiser for patrolmen to use until the car can be repaired.
Other officers responding to the mutual-aid call were Mexico Patrolman Michael Richard and Dixfield Patrolman Jeffrey Howe.
Comments are no longer available on this story