MEXICO – An incident at a group home for teens on Holt Hill Road in Dixfield late Wednesday afternoon, ended an hour later in Mexico with the arrest of a 17-year-old boy on charges of resisting arrest, assault and criminal threatening.

The youth, who police said was injured while resisting arrest, was being treated for abrasions at Rumford Hospital late Wednesday night, investigating Dixfield Patrolman Jeff Howe said by phone from the hospital emergency room.

Howe charged the teen with criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon and criminal mischief, while Rumford police Sgt. James Bernard charged him with refusal to submit to arrest or detention and simple assault after an altercation with police officers. Because of the charges, police declined to name the boy.

The incident began at about 6:15 p.m. when staff and residents of a Department of Health and Human Services Transition Home Program at a Dixfield group home on Holt Hill Road were about to leave on an outing, Dixfield police Chief Richard A. Pickett said by phone from Dixfield.

“After they got ready, everyone went outside except for (the 17-year-old), who then got upset because he wanted them to wait for him,” Pickett said.

The youth then entered the home and began tearing something up inside an upstairs room, the chief said.

“When staff heard the commotion, they went in and started to go up the stairs, but he came down holding onto two knives and told them to get out. They did, and took the other kids with them to the police station,” Pickett said.

Because the incident happened right at shift change, Howe, who was just coming on, and Dixfield Patrolman Eric Bernier went to the group home to determine if the 17-year-old was still inside.

“We knew he had no hostages, so it wasn’t a barricade-situation, but there was a person in there, and we needed to go in and get him,” Pickett said.

Because of the time it took the two group home staff members and four residents to get to the police station, Howe said he asked Oxford County dispatchers to put out a description of the teenager for nearby police, in case he’d left before Dixfield and Mexico police arrived at the group home. Which is what he did, pedaling a red Mongoose mountain bike more than five miles to Mexico.

At about 7 p.m., Bernard spotted a youth matching the teen’s description, riding the bike west on Route 2 in Mexico and carrying a baseball bat. He radioed for backup from Rumford officers Scott Mills and Scott Landis, reversed direction in his cruiser and yelled to the boy to stop. But the youth didn’t, Bernard said.

Bernard then pulled his cruiser halfway onto the sidewalk, stopping the boy. Bernard said he got out of the cruiser and grabbed onto the back of the bike.

“That’s when he turned and swung on me (with his fists). The next thing I knew, he was off the bike and confronting me. I don’t know how he came off his bike so fast,” said Bernard, who ended up tackling the boy as Mills and Landis arrived.

“I got him on the ground, and both Scotts helped me because he continued to resist. It happened pretty quick, so he didn’t have an opportunity to use the baseball bat,” Bernard said.

After handcuffing him, they called for a Dixfield officer who knew the boy to drive over and make sure they had the right suspect.

While a crowd watched the drama on Main Street, also called Route 2, and a Mexico firefighter directed traffic, a Med-Care Ambulance crew treated the boy, whose hands were handcuffed behind his back. Then, they lifted the crying, moaning youth onto a stretcher and strapped him in, still with his hands secured behind his back. One arm was bleeding and bandaged along with a knee.

Howe said that because DHHS has guardianship over the boy, the state will take him back into custody on release from the hospital, and he’ll be arraigned at a later date in juvenile court.

Pickett said Wednesday’s incident was the first time since he’s been a Dixfield officer that an incident at the Holt Hill Road group home had spilled out into the community.

“We’ve had calls up there, but until now, nobody went out like this,” he said.