FARMINGTON

AG’s Office rules officer was justified in shooting man

The Maine Attorney General’s Office has concluded that a Farmington police officer was justified in shooting a man during an armed confrontation in front of the Farmington Town Hall last year.

A report released Monday says Justin Crowley-Smilek, 28, came to the municipal building at around 11 a.m. on Nov. 19 and used a phone outside to call the police department, which is inside.

The report says when Officer Ryan Rosie came out to see him, Crowley-Smilek came after him with a knife, saying, “You’d better kill me now.”

The report says Crowley-Smilek then charged the officer, who fired his gun. Crowley-Smilek fell to the ground and died a short time later.

The report says it was reasonable for Rosie to use deadly force to protect himself.

LEBANON

Radio jamming occurs again, impedes response to fire

Fire crews who fought a fire Saturday experienced radio interference for the first time since the department last month contacted the Federal Communications Commission for assistance finding the person who is jamming radio calls.

Lebanon Fire Chief Skip Wood said the jamming occurred as firefighters called for mutual aid from neighboring departments. A mobile home was destroyed and three others were damaged by the blaze.

“It confused the whole system. It did delay (the response) by at least five, 10 minutes,” Wood said.

Jason Cole, assistant chief of the rescue department, reported the jamming in April to FCC officials in Boston. The last interruption occurred April 22 when Cole was on a medical call and tried to radio for an ambulance with advanced life-support equipment and more medical technicians.

As he started to speak, someone else on the frequency pressed a microphone button and blocked Cole’s attempt to contact his communications office.

Wood said Saturday’s jamming incident remains under investigation.

GLENBURN

N.H. man goes to get mail, ends up 245 miles away

Maine State Police say a 79-year-old New Hampshire man who was last seen going to get his mail ended up 245 miles away in Glenburn.

Trooper Chris Cookson said a store employee alerted police when a confused and disoriented James Marshall of Goffstown, N.H., showed up late Saturday.

Jo-Ellen Jamieson told the Bangor Daily News that she was concerned about the man and invited him inside even though it was closing time. She said the man asked where he was, and was surprised to learn that he wasn’t in New Hampshire.

It turns out Marshall had been reported missing seven hours earlier.

Cookson said an ambulance took Marshall to a hospital in Bangor, and his son arrived the following morning to pick him up.

KENNEBUNK

Man indicted on charge he assaulted customer at bar

A man wanted in a February attack at Federal Jack’s Restaurant and Brew Pub has been indicted by a York County grand jury.

Brandon Millard, 29, was indicted on a charge of aggravated assault. He is accused of punching Andrew Lavalle of Kennebunk, who hit his head on the pavement and was in intensive care after the incident.

Nicole Demers, 22, of Rochester, N.H., was charged with hindering apprehension.

Millard, whose last known address was in Waterboro, is believed to have fled the state, said Lt. Anthony Bean Burpee of the Kennebunk Police Department. Demers, a friend, is charged with refusing to tell police about his whereabouts, Burpee said.

OLD ORCHARD BEACH

Man indicted on murder charge in stabbing death of friend

A Scarborough man accused in the fatal stabbing of his friend has been indicted on a murder charge.

Michael Swenson, 45, is accused in the death of Roger White, 49, of Old Orchard Beach. White’s body was found behind the Whaler, an Old Orchard Beach bar, on April 21.

According to a police affidavit, Swenson told a friend he “snapped” during an argument.

BIDDEFORD

Manslaughter indictment issued in fatal car crash

A York County grand jury has indicted a 19-year-old Biddeford man on charges of manslaughter and fatal operating under the influence.

Patrick Beatson faces charges in the Jan. 8 car crash that killed his friend and passenger, 19-year-old Chaz Dorais of Biddeford.

Beatson lost control of his 1998 Chevrolet Cavalier on West Street in Biddeford and the vehicle slammed into a garage.

ALFRED

Man rescued after ATV crash, is treated for hypothermia

An Alfred man was treated for hypothermia after crashing his all-terrain vehicle late Saturday.

David Flaherty, 38, of Jordan Springs Road left to visit a friend in Lyman at 4 p.m., riding on trails to get there, said Cpl. John MacDonald of the Maine Warden Service.

Flaherty’s mother became concerned when he didn’t come home. She called the York County Sheriff’s Office at 9 p.m.

Authorities determined that Flaherty’s cellphone last sent out a signal near the area of Old Kennebunk Road in Lyman. Wardens and deputies started searching the trails and homes in the area and found Flaherty at 5:45 a.m. Sunday.

He had been in a crash but was awake. He said he had been lying in one position since midnight, and authorities determined he was hypothermic.

A warden and rescue workers transported Flaherty from the scene because an ambulance could not get down the trail.

HARRISON

Police: No charges expected in collision that killed two

The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office says it does not expect to bring charges in the May 2 collision in Harrison that killed a mother and her daughter.

Police said at the time of the crash that Linda Labonte, 63, of Harrison was driving south on Route 117 when her car crossed the centerline and hit a logging truck driven by Jeffery Coffin, 43, of South Paris.

Labonte was pronounced dead at the scene, and her mother, Carmen Smith, 85, of Harrison, was pronounced dead at a hospital.

The logging truck left the road and crashed, partially spilling its load of logs, but Coffin was not hurt.

BANGOR

Man charged with trafficking after police find drugs, cash

A spokesman for the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency says a major supplier of crack cocaine and oxycodone for the Bangor area has been arrested.

The agency said Sunday that Roger Campbell-Black, 34, was arrested this month as he delivered 100 oxycodone tablets and two grams of crack cocaine to someone in Holden.

A search of his Bangor apartment turned up more than a quarter pound of crack cocaine, almost 500 oxycodone tablets and $8,000 in cash. Campbell-Black faces drug trafficking charges.

Authorities also arrested a New York woman who was allegedly delivering more than 600 more pills to Campbell-Black. They have both been released on bail.

Police said the street value of the seized drugs was about $60,000.

AUGUSTA

Legislative panel endorses governor’s nominee for PUC

Gov. Paul LePage’s nominee to fill a vacant seat on the Maine Public Utilities Commission has been endorsed by a legislative committee.

The Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee voted Monday to recommend Senate confirmation of Mark Vannoy to the commission. Vannoy, an engineer from Waldoboro, now is associate vice president of the Wright-Pierce engineering firm.

If confirmed by the Senate, Vannoy would serve through March to complete the term of Vendean Vafiades, who retired from state service after five years on the commission.

The PUC regulates electric, natural gas, telecommunications and water utilities.