WATERVILLE — A Waterville man whose restaurant was destroyed by fire last weekend was arrested at his home Thursday after police said he called in a violent threat to MaineGeneral Medical Center’s Thayer Center for Health that prompted the facility to be locked down.
John Picurro, 41, of Washington Street, was arrested without incident and charged with terrorizing, a Class D misdemeanor crime, interim police Chief Bill Bonney said Friday.
Picurro owned The Last Unicorn restaurant on Silver Street in downtown Waterville.
“On April 26 at about 3 p.m. we learned that he made a threat of violence toward MaineGeneral so we started looking for him,” Bonney said.
He said Picurro wasn’t in Waterville at the time and police eventually located him at his home on Washington Street and arrested him without incident. The police log for Thursday lists the arrest at 6:30 a.m.
“He met with our community outreach coordinator voluntarily,” Bonney said, referring to a person the city hired recently to help people in crisis connect with appropriate community services.
Asked about the content of the threat, which was made Wednesday, Bonney said, “It was a threat relayed by the phone and I think there was a dispute over services.”
He declined to comment further on evidence in the case. A call placed to Picurro’s cellphone Friday was not returned.
MaineGeneral spokeswoman Joy McKenna said in a statement Friday that the threat impacted health system operations in both Waterville and Augusta.
“This threat was taken seriously by the health system, which locked down Thayer Center for Health and added security to entrances at the Alfond Center for Health (in Augusta),” McKenna said. “MaineGeneral senior leaders remained in communication with Waterville PD, which provided extra police presence and monitoring of facilities where staff and patients may be present. The police informed the system (Thursday) that an arrest had been made.”
Thayer Center for Health is a comprehensive outpatient facility with emergency room, doctors’ offices, clinics, laboratories and other services at 149 North St. in Waterville. The Alfond Center for Health is on Medical Center Parkway in Augusta.
Picurro, who lives about 2 miles from Thayer, is scheduled to appear in Waterville District Court on July 18, according to Bonney.
The Last Unicorn was destroyed by fire early Sunday. Picurro said in an interview Monday that if all went well with the insurance, he hoped to reopen the restaurant by working with the property owner, who plans to rebuild. Fire officials said a preliminary investigation determined the cause was a basket of greasy kitchen towels where spontaneous combustion occurred.
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