AUGUSTA — A man convicted in 1997 of raping and trying to kill a 14-year-old girl in southern Maine was arrested Tuesday after allegedly attempting to sexually assault a woman a day earlier.

Deputy Chief Jared Mills of the Augusta police said the 32-year-old woman received no significant injuries during the attempted assault in Augusta, but Sherwood did threaten the woman. She got away from Sherwood and called police around 9:30 p.m.

Additional Photos

Augusta Police Detective Chris Blodgett aims a rifle Tuesday into a second-floor apartment at 388 Water St. in Augusta as members of the department’s tactical team apprehend Lorne Sherwood. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal

Augusta police tactical team members enter 388 Water St. to apprehend Lorne Sherwood on Tuesday. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal

“The words he conveyed were extremely alarming,” Mills said. “Coupled with his past history, from the Augusta Police Department standpoint, I think he’s a very dangerous individual.”

Sherwood was uncooperative Monday night when officers tried to question him, so an officer was stationed outside his home overnight while officers sought a warrant, Mills told The Associated Press.

Police arrested him around noon Tuesday on charges of assault, terrorizing and creating a police standoff and violating probation, Mills said. Mills said Sherwood answered and surrendered when police knocked on his door.

Sherwood was evaluated at MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta after complaining of undisclosed medical issues, Mills said. He was released from the hospital Tuesday afternoon and remained in police custody. Neither Sherwood nor police were injured during the arrest.

Sherwood was expected to be moved to the Kennebec County jail on Tuesday night. He would be eligible for bail on the new charges but will probably remain in jail because he was on probation at the time of his arrest.

Sherwood was living in Biddeford in 1996 when he attacked a 14-year-old girl there and nearly strangled her. Sherwood pleaded guilty to two counts of gross sexual assault and one count of attempted murder, according to online state corrections records. He was sentenced in York County Superior Court to 35 years in prison, with all but 20 years suspended, and six years probation.

Sherwood chose his victim at random, according to a 1997 story in the Portland Press Herald. He threw the girl into his car and locked the door before driving to Hollis, stopping periodically to look for a secluded area, the story said. Sherwood ordered the girl to strip, tied her hands with rope, pulled her from the car, raped her twice atop the hood of the car and strangled her with his hands and a plastic pipe until she fell unconscious.

When she came to, Sherwood said to the girl, “You really want to live, don’t you?”

When she answered yes, he helped her collect her clothes and drove her back to Biddeford, the Press Herald reported.

In the hours after the rape, covered with bruises and gashes, the girl described Sherwood, his rings, his car, brand of cigarettes, even his license plate to within one digit, according to the Press Herald story. The girl remembered the car was a “2.2 Charger,” because she saw the logo on the car’s hood as she was being raped.

Police arrested Sherwood at his home later that night.

Sherwood spent the 17 years in the Maine Correctional Center at Windham before being released in June 2013. A lifetime registrant of the Maine Sex Offender Registry, Sherwood moved to Augusta.

Police had been aggressive in warning residents about Sherwood’s presence upon his release from prison because he was believed to be at high risk of another offense, Mills told The Associated Press.

“Basically our fears came true last night. It’s obviously a tragic situation but it could have been even worse,” Mills said. “I’m relieved that he’s no longer on the streets.”

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