LEWISTON – Two local men were arrested on weapons and other charges early Sunday following a saturation search by police of the Shawmut and Howe streets area.
Regular duty cops augmented by a special plainclothes liquor detail of police officers flocked to the neighborhood after a report of shots being fired came in to the 911 dispatch center about 12:50 a.m. Sunday.
The shots-fired call closely followed another complaint of an altercation in the neighborhood. That was one of a flurry of street skirmishes that sent police scrambling to quell the disturbances as the new year ticked on. In all, police said more than 35 complaints were logged in the wee hours following midnight.
In the most serious, Michael Bailey, 22, who lists addresses in Auburn as his home, was arrested and charged with illegal possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon, carrying a concealed weapon – a kitchen knife – and on warrants alleging unpaid fines for charges of theft, operating after suspension and two counts of felony reckless conduct.
Bailey was being held on $5,000 bail at the Androscoggin County Jail in Auburn, where he had been given clean jail clothes to wear.
Lewiston Police Lt. Tom Avery said Bailey “defecated in his pants when he was arrested.” Another officer said Bailey also urinated in his pants after being put into custody.
The lapse in bodily functions meant a smelly transport of the prisoner from the local police station to the jail, another officer said.
Bailey was apprehended “after running into the arms” of an officer who had circled around the Howe- and Shawmut-street area while Bailey was being pursued on foot through alleyways by Avery and other cops.
A .22-caliber, semi-automatic Ruger pistol resembling a World War II-era German Luger was found on the ground near where Bailey was taken into custody.
A man with Bailey, Bruce Russo, 20, listed as a transient, was also arrested and charged with illegal possession of a concealed weapon, a knife.
Avery said police might not have spotted either man if they hadn’t bolted after patrol cars began prowling the neighborhood following the shots-fired call to dispatch.
As Avery neared the area, he said he heard a second shot, a “pop-type” of sound.
Next, he said he saw Bailey and Russo bolt down an alley between two buildings. As they ran, he said, they started scaling fences.
“When they started running, it caught my attention,” said Avery.
He said the incident remains under investigation. No complaints of damage in connection with the gunshots was reported. Avery said police haven’t linked the shots to any particular incident during the night.
Other skirmishes resulted in more than a half dozen people being arrested on disorderly conduct or similar charges during the early morning hours.
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