Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine

June 29, 2012

Dispatches

From staff and news services

BOSTON

Biddeford man charged in drug-related shooting

A Biddeford man was arrested in Boston on Thursday on charges in connection with a drug-related shooting Monday night, police say.

Leroy H. Drane was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service and the Southern Maine Violent Crimes Task Force, which Biddeford police participate in.

Police said Drane shot a 32-year-old man at the man's home at 124 Alfred St. at 11:30 p.m.

The victim was treated and released from Southern Maine Medical Center for a gunshot wound to the leg, said a release from Biddeford police.

Drane is charged with elevated aggravated assault and possession of a gun by a prohibited person.

SOUTH PORTLAND

Transient charged with theft in alleged Craiglist scam

Police said a woman who was advertising an apartment on Craigslist and then collecting security deposits from prospective tenants didn't own or manage the property -- the South Portland Housing Authority did.

South Portland police received two complaints Wednesday from victims saying they responded to the Craigslist ad for an apartment on Grandview Avenue.

One of the victims arranged to meet the woman, Lisa Hinerman, 26, whom police described as a transient, at a hotel in Portland on Thursday morning. Instead, officers met Hinerman and charged her with two counts of felony theft by deception.

Hinerman has a long criminal history including theft, police said.

Police said the total loss from the alleged scam is $1,800.

ELLSWORTH

Woman gets prison term in spree that led to death

A woman from Down East who pleaded guilty to a crime spree that ended with the shooting death of her boyfriend is going to prison.

A judge on Thursday ordered Ashley Crowley of Beals to serve two years of a seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence.

In December 2010, her boyfriend, Nicholas Richards, 23, of Machias, was shot to death after they tried to rob a man they believed to be a drug dealer. Court documents indicate that Crowley lured the man from his home by claiming she had been in a car crash. After being hit with pepper spray, the man fired a gun, killing Richards.

Beals pleaded guilty to burglary, robbery stealing drugs, theft by unauthorized taking or transfer, criminal trespass, criminal mischief and criminal use of disabling chemicals.

WALDO

Woman arrested for shaving sleeping boyfriend's head

Police said a Waldo woman has been arrested after shaving her boyfriend's head while he was sleeping.

Authorities said Mindy Lavoie, 35, kept her promise that if her boyfriend ever came home drunk again, she'd shave his head.

The Waldo County Sheriff's office said the couple got into a fight after Thomas A. Thomas, 36, woke up. A neighbor called police Monday night to report a domestic fight.

The Bangor Daily News said Lavoie has been charged with domestic violence assault. Thomas has been charged with violating the conditions of release for a prior offense.

AUGUSTA

Coalition collects $1 million in support of gay marriage

The coalition that's leading a campaign to legalize gay marriage in Maine said it has raised more than $1 million and has had one-on-one discussions about November's referendum with more than 100,000 residents.

Mainers United for Marriage held a news conference at the State House in Augusta on Thursday to mark the one-year anniversary of when it took out papers to launch its citizen's initiative to force a statewide vote on whether to allow same-sex marriage.

(Continued on page 2)

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