FARMINGTON — A Farmington man with a history of run-ins with police was shot and killed by an officer Saturday morning outside the town’s municipal building, a spokeswoman for the Maine Attorney General’s Office said.

Spokeswoman Brenda Kielty said 28-year-old Justin Crowley-Smilek was shot by Farmington police Officer Ryan Rosie.

Kielty said Crowley-Smilek was armed with a large knife just after 11 a.m. Saturday when he was approached by police outside the police station.

“It was an armed confrontation,” Kielty said. “Several rounds were shot.”

Crowley-Smilek had used a phone outside the municipal building to call the police department for help, Chief Jack Peck told the Sun Journal of Lewiston. The building is on Route 2, also known as Farmington Falls Road.

When Rosie came out, Crowley-Smilek came after him threateningly, Peck said, and the officer shot him.

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Leon Heckbert, who was working at his garage across the street, said he heard four gunshots.

Heckbert said he then saw two police officers, one with his gun drawn, standing over what appeared to be a body in the town office parking lot, according to the Sun Journal.

Kielty said the state Attorney General’s Office, Maine State Police, Farmington police and the state Medical Examiner’s Office are investigating the shooting. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday. 

Crowley-Smilek is the same man who was arrested in February 2010 for taking a concealed weapon — a loaded .45-caliber handgun — to a University of Maine at Farmington basketball game inside the college’s Dearborn Gymnasium.

Crowley-Smilek’s name first appears in newspaper archives in March 2005, when a published report said he had joined the Army under the delayed entry program.

Crowley-Smilek reported to Fort Benning in Columbus, Ga., for basic training, according to the report. He was the son of Ruth Crowley of Portland, Ore., and Michael Smilek of Farmington.

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In October 2007, Crowley-Smilek was arrested on charges of operating after suspension, criminal mischief and violation of conditions of bail.

He was arrested again in 2009 on a charge of violating the conditions of his release, according to published reports.

In April 2010, Crowley-Smilek pleaded guilty to carrying a concealed weapon without a permit in connection with the incident at UMF on Feb. 27 of that year. He served five days in jail, was fined $500 and was ordered to perform 15 hours of community service, according to published reports.

He was arrested again last January for allegedly assaulting an intoxicated man who had been sleeping in a car in downtown Farmington.

A few days later, Crowley-Smilek was again arrested after Farmington police found a machete and 61 marijuana plants growing in his apartment.

He was charged with violating conditions of release for possessing the machete, and cultivating marijuana.

Morning Sentinel Staff Writer Doug Harlow can be contacted at 612-2367 or at:

dharlow@centralmaine.com

 


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