At approximately 3:20 p.m. on Tuesday, Deputy John Hansen was conducting a radar detail on Route 73 in the school zone by the Guilford-Butler School in South Thomaston when he noticed a truck heading north going 38 miles per hour in the 15 mph zone school zone. Deputy Hansen pulled out behind the truck and attempted to pull the truck over. The driver of the truck seemed to slow down as though intending to pull over, but then sped off.
Deputy Hansen pursued the driver on Route 73 and onto the Dublin Road in South Thomaston. The driver of the truck failed to navigate a 90 degree turn on the Dublin Road near Snow Hill Lane and lost control, leaving the road five times. The truck ran over bushes, rocks, and a small building believed to be a well pump house, before crossing the road for the last time and rolling onto its side, coming to a rest off the side of the road after hitting a rock wall.
The white 2005 Chevrolet Silverado is registered to Alana Gibbons or Rockland but was being driven by Brandon Demmons, 21-years-old, of Union. Joell Fogg, 48-years-old, of Warren, was a passenger in the vehicle. Both men were treated at the scene by South Thomaston Rescue and released. Demmons was charged with Driving to Endanger, Attempting to Elude an Officer, and Speeding. Demmons was transported to the Knox County Jail and booked on those charges, and later posted bail.
The truck, valued at approximately $9,000 is believed to be totaled.
Deputy John Hansen responded to the Knox County Jail in the afternoon of October 26th for a reported assault on a corrections officer. Tyrone Trask, 55 of Rockport, was in a restraint chair when Deputy Hansen arrived at the Jail. Trask was being held at the Jail for a number of prior charges and has been combative with corrections officers. While being placed in the restraint chair, Trask spit in the face of one of the officers and also threatened physical harm and death to all involved as soon as he is released. Trask was charged with Assault on an Officer (which is a Class C, Felony) and three counts of Criminal Threatening (Class D). He remains a the Knox County Jail.
The first annual Citizen's Police Academy at the Knox County Sheriff's Office is four weeks in and going great!
Here are a couple pictures from the week 4 class. The lesson was on Operating Under the Influence (OUI) detection and enforcement, as well as about the responsibilities of a drug recognition expert. This week's teacher was Sheriff's Deputy Patrick Polky.
The Knox County Jail's gardens have been doing well enough that staff have been able to donate food to other organizations:
8/21/15 - 450 lbs of potatoes given to the Methodist Conference Home / Meals on Wheels
8/28/15 - 150 lbs of potatoes given to the Mid-Coast School of Technology
9/08/15 - 350 lbs of potatoes given to the Methodist Conference Home / Meals on Wheels
9/11/15 - 25 lbs of tomatoes and 25 lbs of cucumbers given to the Mid-Coast School of Technology
9/15/15 - 4 Jack-o-lantern pumpkins, 6 pie pumpkins, and 5 bundles of corn stalks (to use as decoration) given to Child Development Services
9/15/15 - 75 ears of corn given to the Mid-Coast School of Technology
9/17/15 - 150 ears of corn and 175 lbs of potatoes given to the Mid-Coast School of Technology
9/29/15 - 100 lbs of potatoes and 10 bundles of corn stalks (to use as decoration) given to the Mid-Coast School of Technology
9/29/15 - 5 bundles of corn stalks (to use as decoration) given to Child Development Services
9/29/15 - 300 lbs of potatoes given to the Methodist Conference Home / Meals on Wheels
Just after noon on September 28th, the Sheriff's Office responded to a single vehicle crash on Route 17 in Washington.
Scott Ware, 43, of Gardiner, was driving a PEP Transportation flatbed 18-wheeler loaded with new Fisher snowplows and equipment. It was first reported that the truck was on fire with a single occupant/driver trapped inside. The truck had been traveling west on Route 17 and failed to negotiate a curve near Fitch Road, crossing the eastbound lane into a field. After going another 300 feet, the truck ended up rolling over onto its roof.
A passerby stopped and extinguished the fire and waited with the driver for first responders to arrive and help get him out of the truck. Mr. Ware was first transported to Pen Bay Medical Center and then flown by Lifeflight to a hospital in Lewiston with non-life threatening injuries.
Washington Fire Department, Union Fire Department and Ambulance Service, and Somerville Fire Department all assisted on-scene.
