PORTLAND — A 22-year-old Maine man is going to prison for five years for starting a fire that destroyed a plumbing and heating business in Freeport, according to The Portland Press Herald. Christopher Veysey II was sentenced Monday in District Court in Portland after pleading guilty to one count of arson and six counts of […]
arson
Posted inOur View
Drugs driving crime rates up in Maine
Crime in Maine is up. So is the cost of fighting crime as Maine grapples with technology-savvy crooks and increased investigative costs, according to Public Safety Commissioner John Morris. The Department of Public Safety released 2011 crime statistics on Tuesday, reporting a 5.4 percent increase in crime compared to 2010. That’s the biggest single-year jump […]
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Posted inFranklin
Franklin County man sentenced to two years in insurance theft case
FARMINGTON — A Franklin County Superior Court justice on Wednesday sentenced a man previously convicted of having sawed-off shotguns to two years in prison for torching his house in June 2010. Joseph T. Smith, 66, of Township 6 North of Weld, pleaded no contest to a charge of theft by insurance deception. He will serve […]
Posted inFranklin, The Franklin Journal
Four men indicted in connection to meth lab, fire
FARMINGTON — A grand jury indicted four of five people Thursday in connection with a methamphetamine lab at a mobile home at 8 Winter Hill Road in Kingfield. Three of them were indicted on arson charges in connection to a “one-pot” meth lab explosion and fire at the home Feb. 8. Joshua Bartlett, 25, of […]
Posted inOxford Hills
Second arson at Norway boarding house investigated
NORWAY — Investigators from three different agencies are taking a closer look at last week’s suspected arson at a local boarding house after someone tried to burn the place down again late Sunday night. Norway Assistant Fire Chief James Tibbetts said the fire was called in at 11:30 p.m. Sunday at 7 King St. The […]
Posted inOxford Hills, River Valley
Gilead woman to serve three months for arson
PARIS — A Gilead woman will serve three months and work 400 hours of public service for helping her mother burn down several buildings in Albany Township in 2010. Lisa Thurston, 38, pleaded guilty to arson in January in Oxford County Superior Court. On Friday, her attorney, Kelly McMorran, argued that Thurston was her mother’s […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Man sentenced to 30 years for topless coffee shop arson
AUGUSTA, Maine — The man convicted of setting fire to a topless coffee shop in Vassalboro was sentenced Thursday to the maximum sentence of 30 years. Raymond Bellavance Jr., 51, was convicted Dec. 30, 2011, of class A arson for setting fire on June 3, 2009, to the building — a former motel — that housed the coffee […]
Posted inOxford Hills
Boarding house blaze being investigated as arson
NORWAY — Two police officers are being credited with saving lives, as well as a building, by pulling a burning mattress from the entrance to a boarding house in Norway late Saturday night. Norway fire Chief Dennis Yates said the blaze is being investigated by the Maine Fire Marshal’s Office as arson. The two police […]
Posted inLocal & State
Another arson fire hits Gorham
GORHAM — A fire reported Wednesday night is being blamed on arson, the fifth suspicious fire in the community in two weeks. The fire, involving a house under construction at 54 Dingley Spring Road, was reported about 8:40 p.m., according to Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety. McCausland said damage to […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Third arson hits Maine town
GORHAM, Maine (AP) — The Maine Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the third arson fire to strike the town of Gorham in the past week. Sunday morning’s fire destroyed an abandoned house on Great Falls Road and caused an injury to a Gorham firefighter, who was knocked to the ground by a fire hose that […]