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

October 13, 2012

New England Dispatches

SANDWICH, Mass.

Man who dropped boulder on dinner train still at large

Police are looking for whomever dropped a 40-pound chunk of granite from an overpass onto a Cape Cod dinner train's locomotive.

The boulder was dropped at about 8:30 p.m. Thursday in Sandwich as the Cape Cod Central Railroad's Dinner Train was returning to Hyannis with nearly 200 diners and crew on board.

No one was hurt, but superintendent of passenger operations for the railroad, Jonathan Babbitt, told WXTK-FM that the locomotive's main headlight and housing unit were broken.

The train rolled over the rock after it struck, but did not appear to incur additional damage. Babbitt called it a "serious offense" and a violation of federal law to tamper with a railroad.

Witnesses described a male suspect of about 20 years old.

PROVIDENCE, R.I

Two charged over theft of 119 trendy bracelets

Rhode Island State Police say more than $1,500 worth of trendy Alex and Ani bracelets were stolen and offered for sale on Craigslist.

Col. Steven O'Donnell said two Woonsocket men were arrested Thursday after unfinished bracelets that have not yet been sold to the public were spotted online for steep discounts.

Police said they traced the 119 bracelets to a larceny at a plating manufacturer that was doing work for Alex and Ani, a Cranston-based jewelry maker.

An employee of the company, 26-year-old Hector Bonilla, was charged with larceny over $1,500. Twenty-seven-year-old Manuel Pagan, who was allegedly trying to sell the bracelets, was charged with receiving stolen goods over $1,500.

The men were both arraigned and released on personal recognizance.

Armed intruders terrorized wrong couple, police say

A Rhode Island couple was terrorized by four armed, masked men who left their home after realizing they had targeted the wrong people.

WPRI-TV reported Friday that the two Coventry residents were asleep in their home on Hill Farm Camp Road when the men broke in late Thursday night.

Coventry police said the armed intruders, who were wearing black clothing, ski masks and gloves, tied up the couple but left when they realized they had broken into the wrong home. The couple was uninjured.

Police said they're investigating the incident.

DALTON, Mass

Police shoot and kill one of two dogs that bit man

Police have shot and killed one of two dogs that attacked a Dalton man and sent him to the hospital with bite wounds to his face and the left thigh.

Police said the man in his 30s was attacked outside his home at about 4 p.m. Thursday.

One female and one male dog burst out of a nearby apartment and bit the man.

Police told The Berkshire Eagle they shot the male because it continued to act aggressively and capturing it was too risky. The female was taken to a shelter.

There was no immediate word on the breed, but they appeared to be pit bull types.

The dogs' owner was not home at the time. Police are still trying to determine whether charges are warranted.

WINDHAM, Vt.

Agency opposes proposal for wind-testing towers

The Vermont Department of Public Service is opposing construction of wind-testing towers in Windham as contrary to town regulations.

The Brattleboro Reformer reported that the agency's objection does not end the process. The state's Public Service Board must rule on the Atlantic Wind LLC's proposal.

Atlantic Wind requested a certificate of public good from the state to erect three meteorological testing towers -- two in Windham and one in Grafton. The towers could be the precursor to Windham County's first commercial wind turbine site.

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