PORTLAND

Fight over ‘who was crazier’ends with hammer attack

Police charged a Portland man with assault and reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon in a hammer attack on a drinking buddy Sunday night.

Lt. Gary Hutcheson said Lawrence Crouxford, 60, struck Joseph Pedegrow, 32, of Portland in the head with a hammer after the two argued about “who was crazier.” The incident took place on Alder Street around 4 p.m.

Hutcheson said the men had been drinking together. Pedegrow was taken to Maine Maine Medical Center and treated for a head injury. Crouxford was taken to the Cumberland County Jail.

SACO

Saco driver faces OUI count after striking telephone pole

Police charged a Saco man with operating under the influence after his SUV crashed into a telephone pole early Sunday.

Sgt. Bruce Cote said Aaron Crowe, 19, was driving a 1998 Dodge Durango when it left Flag Pond Road around 2:30 a.m.

A male passenger suffered a minor cut. Crowe was not injured. Police said the road had to be closed for about two hours.

SANFORD

Former Maine Outlaw leader to serve time in shooting

A former president of the Maine chapter of the Outlaws motorcycle gang has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for his role in sanctioning the retaliation shooting of a rival Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang member.

According to the Journal Tribune of Biddeford, 41-year-old Thomas “Taz” Benvie of Sanford was sentenced this month on one racketeering charge in Richmond, Va. Three other racketeering charges were dismissed.

Benvie was charged for his role in a 2009 shooting, when two other Outlaws members shot a Hell’s Angels member in central Maine as payback for an altercation between gang members in Connecticut.

Benvie was one of 27 Outlaws members and associates nationwide charged in a federal indictment last June.

During the roundup of suspects, Outlaws member Thomas “Tomcat” Mayne was killed in a shootout with federal agents at his home in Old Orchard Beach.

Possible link between N.H., Sanford crimes probe’s focus

Police in two states are investigating whether pharmacy robberies Sunday in Sanford and Rochester, N.H., are related.

Sanford police Detective Sgt. Jason Wagner said the Rite Aid at 464 Main St. was robbed around 12:45 p.m. Sunday. The Rochester robbery took place earlier Sunday at the Walgreens Pharmacy on South Main Street.

Wagner said that in Sanford, the suspect implied the use of a weapon and left with an undisclosed amount of pills. No injuries were reported.

ALFRED

N.H. man seeks new trial in murder of Maine woman

A 29-year-old New Hampshire man convicted of murder in the death of his former fiancee from Maine is seeking a new trial.

Jason Twardus has filed a motion for a new trial in York County Superior Court in Alfred. According to Foster’s Daily Democrat, the motion says the request is based on new evidence discovered since Twardus’ conviction last fall.

A jury found Twardus guilty of strangling Kelly Gorham, a 30-year-old nursing student from Alfred, in August 2007 and burying her body on his father’s property in Stewartstown, N.H., near the Canadian border. He has not been sentenced.

During the trial, Twardus’ attorney told jurors that prosecutors should have focused on two other men who had dinner with the victim the night before she disappeared.

LAGRANGE

State trooper shoots pit bull after dog attacks its owner

A Maine State Police trooper shot and wounded a male pit bull Saturday after the animal attacked its owner and forced him to barricade himself in a room in his mobile home on Route 16.

The 29-year-old man was treated at Eastern Medical Center in Bangor for bite and puncture wounds on his neck, legs and arms and then released, according to Trooper Adam Coover.

The call for help came in about 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Coover said.

“Two gentlemen said they had locked themselves in the back bedroom,” he said. “One had been mauled by the dog and the dog was chewing its way through the door.”

Coover said that when he arrived at the mobile home and went inside, “the dog lunged at me and I shot it. It ran into a (second) bedroom and we were able to get the men out of the trailer.”

The 3-year-old dog was taken to an emergency veterinary clinic in Brewer, where it was euthanized. It will be tested for rabies, Coover said.

BANGOR

Ex-prosecutor’s request for new child porn trial denied

A federal judge has denied a former state prosecutor’s request for a new trial on child pornography charges.

Forty-eight-year-old James Cameron was convicted last August of 13 counts of sending, receiving and possessing child pornography. Cameron, who has not been sentenced, has been held without bail since his conviction.

In denying Cameron’s appeal, U.S. District Judge John Woodcock said the evidence proved Cameron “was obsessed with young girls and was determined to view pornographic images of them.”

According to the Bangor Daily News, defense attorney Michael Cunniff of Portland has said that Cameron’s conviction will be appealed to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston after he is sentenced.

CONCORD, N.H.

UNH Law School to welcome new dean in ceremony today

The University of New Hampshire School of Law is officially welcoming its new dean today.

The school will be holding a “Change of Command” ceremony to welcome John Broderick and honor outgoing Dean John Hutson.

Broderick recently retired as chief justice of the state Supreme Court. Hutson has led the law school since 2000.

The ceremony will take place at 4:30 p.m. at the school’s Jury Box Cafe in Concord.