BIDDEFORD
California man charged with robbery of bank
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Police arrested a 50-year-old man from California on charges of robbing the Bank of America branch at 208 Main St.
Police received an alert that the bank was being robbed at 12:30 p.m. Friday. A man, who was not wearing a disguise, had entered the bank, reached under his clothing as if he had a gun, and demanded money, police said.
Police canvassed the area, including the nearby Thatcher Hotel at 193 Main St. There, a clerk said a man who matched the police description had gone to one of the hotel rooms.
Police went to the room and found Steve Pinkham. Lying on the bed was a large amount of cash. Twenty minutes after the robbery was reported, Pinkham was in custody.
Pinkham is charged with robbery and is being held at York County Jail pending a court appearance.
Pinkham has an extensive criminal history in California, police said.
Four face felony charges of selling crack in safe zone
Four people face felony charges of selling crack cocaine after their arrests in a grocery store parking lot Thursday.
The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency and Biddeford police conducted surveillance of the parking lot of Five Points Shopping Plaza in Biddeford after learning that a drug sale was pending.
Police charged Darlene Court, 44, of Saco; Kimberly Pierce, 29, of Waterboro; Earl Guerro, 24, of Boston; and Aaron Brown, 28, of Biddeford.
The four were charged with aggravated trafficking in crack cocaine. The charge was made more serious because they were within 1,000 feet of May Field, an athletic complex with Little League fields and a playground, which is a designated safe zone.
Police seized 11.8 grams of crack cocaine worth about $1,000 as well as $1,980 in cash and a 2010 Toyota Corolla.
Court has previous federal convictions for drug trafficking and for violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Guerro has convictions in Massachusetts for drug trafficking and possession with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school.
The four were being held at York County Jail on bail ranging from $1,500 to $5,000.
Netherlands to sue Russia to free Greenpeace ship
The Dutch government said it plans to sue Russia in the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in an effort to win release of a Greenpeace ship and 30 activists, including the ship’s captain, who is married to a woman from Maine.
Peter Willcox was one of 15 people charged in a Russian court with piracy Thursday. The other activists were similarly charged earlier in the week. Piracy carries a maximum sentence of 15 years.
Willcox is married to Maggy Willcox, who lives in Islesboro. He lists Maine as his home on his Facebook page but remains based in Connecticut to be close to his daughter and father, she said.
Peter Willcox sailed the Dutch-flagged Arctic Sunrise last month into the Arctic Sea, where the Russian oil company Gazprom plans to drill. Greenpeace protesters in inflatable boats made for the platform to protest the potential impact on the fragile Arctic ecosystem. Security guards and the Russian Coast Guard arrested the protesters and the ship’s crew and towed the ship back to Murmansk where they are jailed.
MARS HILL
Hartford man, 33, arrested following high-speed chase
A Hartford man who led police on a high-speed chase that reached speeds exceeding 100 mph is facing charges.
Maine State Police said officers attempted to stop a vehicle early Friday morning for speeding, but the driver failed to stop. Officers chased the vehicle at high speeds on Route 1A through Easton. Fort Fairfield police later deployed spikes to disable the car’s tires, eventually causing the car to stop.
Jonathan Holt, 33, was taken into custody.
Police said Holt is being charged with operating under the influence, eluding police officers, passing a roadblock and driving to endanger.
BUCKSPORT
Car crash kills one teen, seriously injures another
Police say one teenager is dead and another is in serious condition after a car crash in Bucksport.
The Bucksport police chief said a vehicle driven 16-year-old Samantha Goode went off Bucks Mills road Thursday night and hit a tree.
WNSX radio reported that Goode and her passenger were taken to the hospital, where 15-year-old Taylor Darveau was pronounced dead.
The cause of the accident is under investigation.
— From staff and news services
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