Suspect in Waterville homicide apprehended, shot by police in Arkansas

Flowers were left Sunday at the entrance to Damon’s Beverage in Waterville near signage relevant to the recent death there of employee Angela Bragg. Bragg’s body was found at inside business early Thursday morning and authorities said Sunday they had apprehended a coworker, Spridal Hubiak, in connection with the killing. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

The suspect in the death of a 52-year-old Waterville woman was shot by police in Arkansas early Sunday morning after he was found sleeping in a parking lot and then led police on a chase, authorities said.

Spridal Hubiak Photo courtesy of Maine State Police

Police in Flippin, Arkansas, located Spridal Hubiak, 20, of Waterville just before 1 a.m. Sunday in response to a report of suspicious vehicle, according to a news release from Arkansas State Police.

When police identified Hubiak, he fled, Arkansas State Police said. Hubiak was driving the black 2010 Ford Taurus that authorities in Maine had said he was operating last week, according to Maine State Police.

A police chase involving Arkansas State Police and a local police department ended when Hubiak crashed in a gas station parking lot, the release said. Police used spike mats in the chase to try to stop Hubiak’s vehicle.

Hubiak then exited the vehicle with an “AR-style” rifle in hand, according to witnesses, and a Boone County sheriff’s deputy fired at him, “striking him multiple times,” the release said. Hubiak was injured in the shooting and is currently hospitalized at a medical facility in Springfield, Missouri, where he is in the custody of the Greene County Sheriff’s Office, according to Arkansas State Police.

His current condition is “unknown but he is expected to live,” according to a spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety, Shannon Moss.

Investigators identified Hubiak as a suspect in connection with the killing of Angela Bragg, whose body was found at Damon’s Beverage in Waterville early Thursday morning.

Both Hubiak and Bragg were employees at the beverage store and redemption center at 6 Jefferson St., police said previously. No further details about their relationship or what led to the suspected homicide have been released.

Maine State Police detectives are coordinating with Arkansas State Police and the Boone County Sheriff’s Department on the homicide investigation, according to Moss.

Arkansas State Police are investigating the shooting to “determine whether the officer’s use of deadly force was consistent with Arkansas law,” according to the department’s news release.

Flippin, Arkansas, is a city with just over 1,000 people, located in Marion County in the Ozarks region, about 140 miles north of Little Rock.

The parking lot is shown empty Sunday as Damon’s Beverage at 6 Jefferson St. in Waterville, as the business remained closed. The body of employee Angela Bragg was found at the business early Thursday morning and a coworker, Spridal Hubiak, is the suspect in the killing. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

After issuing an arrest warrant for Hubiak on Thursday, police said they believed he had left Maine but didn’t say why they believed that or give any indication to where Hubiak might be.

An autopsy performed on Friday by Maine’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the cause of Bragg’s death as sharp force injury and the manner of death as homicide.

Damon’s Beverage remembered Bragg as a “valued employee, friend, and person” in a Facebook post on Friday. “None of us will be the same after this,” the post said.

On Sunday, the store remained closed as it has been since Thursday. A sign posted on the front door said “out of respect to Angela and our employees,” it will reopen on Tuesday, Jan. 2.