William E. Murphy (Oxford County Jail)

PARIS — A Mexico man was sentenced Thursday afternoon in Oxford County Superior Court to serve six months of a three-year prison term for forcing a driver off Route 219 in Sumner last fall.

William E. Murphy, 71, pleaded guilty to reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon and criminal operating under the influence in exchange for the state dropping charges of aggravated criminal mischief, misdemeanor refusing to submit to arrest, disorderly conduct and driving to endanger charges.

Murphy will serve two years of probation upon release, have his license suspended for 150 days, be subject to random search and testing for alcohol use, and be prohibited from any contact with the driver forced off the road.

According to an affidavit by Maine State Trooper Jason Wing, he responded to a complaint from a driver that he was being rear-ended by a pick-up truck and was being forced off the road. Wing found a pickup truck stuck in a ditch on Route 219 in Sumner and Murphy behind the wheel.

Murphy refused to get out of the truck, repeatedly revved the engine and made an obscene gesture. After more than an hour and the arrival of Cpl. Daniel Hanson, Trooper Brian Hink and Oxford County Deputy Josh Aylward, Wing was tazed, arrested and taken to a hospital, where he “began swearing and yelling inside the emergency room,” despite warnings to remain quiet, the trooper wrote.

He was later booked at the Oxford County Jail in Paris. 

mdaigle@sunmediagroup.net