A man convicted of assaulting a child tried to flee a courthouse in Maine but two jurors and a detective quickly foiled the escape attempt. Nicholas Carter, 31, on Wednesday ran out of the courthouse in Skowhegan while handcuffed. He had been found guilty of aggravated assault against a 14-month-old child, according to the Portland Press Herald. A series of videos shows Carter racing down a hallway in the courthouse while still in handcuffs and dodging an individual who attempted to block him. He can then be seen fleeing the courthouse, chased by several other individuals. Additional vide ..read more

A person died when a pickup truck rear-ended her SUV in a construction zone on Interstate 95 in Augusta, Maine, on Friday, police said. A dog in the SUV died as well, according to Maine State Police. It wasn’t immediately clear if anyone was facing charges in the crash, which involved five vehicles in total. The crash took place about 3:09 p.m. near Exit 113, where a lane closure because of the construction zone left vehicles stopped on the highway, police said. The pickup rear-ended the SUV, in which the person who died was a passenger, according to police. There were other injuries, but none ..read more

A Walmart store in Augusta, Maine, was evacuated on Thursday afternoon due to a bomb threat. Augusta police said all customers and employees evacuated the store on Civic Center Drive around 2:20 p.m. A police bomb sniffing dog responded to the scene. Around 4:45 p.m., the building was cleared and allowed to reopen. The investigation into the bomb threat remains ongoing, according to Augusta police. More Maine news Maine Sep 10 4-year-old girl struck and killed by vehicle outside Maine day care Maine 18 hours ago Owner of Maine massage parlor arrested on sex trafficking charges ..read more

The owner of a massage parlor in Lewiston, Maine, has been arrested on sex trafficking charges, police confirmed Thursday. Richard Qiu of Brooklyn, New York, has ties to several massage parlors in Maine, according to Lewiston Police, who began investigating reports of an illicit massage parlor on Sabattus Street in March of this year. When investigators executed search warrants on the property, they discovered two people who they believe are victims of human trafficking, as well as video recording equipment, condoms, and over $12,000 in what investigators believe were proceeds from sex traffic ..read more

A settlement that led to the dismissal of a wrongful death lawsuit hasn’t ended a criminal investigation into a toddler’s disappearance from her father’s home in Maine where blood was found more than a decade ago. Trista Reynolds, who is the mother of Ayla Reynolds, reached a settlement that brought her civil lawsuit against the girl’s father, Justin DiPietro, and his sister and mother to a conclusion last month. Terms were not disclosed. But that doesn’t change the status of the criminal investigation. “The investigation is still active, and detectives continue to follow up on any and all lea ..read more

A 4-year-old girl was struck and killed by an SUV while outside of her daycare last week in North Berwick, Maine, according to police. North Berwick police said they were called to Buffum Road arond 4:46 p.m. Thursday for a report of a child who had been struck by a vehicle. Responding emergency personnel arrived at the scene to find that CPR had already been initiated on a 4-year-old girl. Life-saving measures continued as the child was rushed by ambulance to Wentworth-Douglass Hospital in Dover, New Hampshire. But once at the hospital, the girl died from her injuries. The incident occurred i ..read more

A total of 13 fire departments and over 100 first responders battled a massive blaze at an unfinished apartment complex in Auburn, Maine, overnight. Auburn fire officials said they responded to a reported fire at a construction site at 138 Mount Auburn Avenue around 10:11 p.m. Sunday. The site holds two 4-story apartment buildings, each with about 80 living units, and both are in various stages of active construction. When they arrived at the scene just minutes later, firefighters said they found heavy fire on all four floors of the east building and mutual aid was immediatey called in from n ..read more

An early morning fire on Sunday destroyed a popular seafood restaurant in the mid-coast Maine town of Damariscotta, the fire department said. No one was injured in the fire at the Schooner Landing and Marina, fire officials said. The cause of the fire had not been determined. Schooner Landing, on the Damariscotta River in the quaint downtown, featured indoor and outdoor seating, with live music outside. A section of Main Street was closed on Sunday morning but reopened later in the day, police said. An investigation into the fire’s cause is ongoing ..read more

The Maine State Police released a report on Friday describing the lessons learned after the state’s largest mass shooting and making multiple recommendations for improvements in tactical response, incident management, training and other areas. The agency called the report an “after action review” and said one of its goals was to identify areas for improvement stemming from the response to the Oct. 25, 2023, mass shooting that killed 18 people in Lewiston. One of the primary recommendations is that the state police incorporate new active-shooter training “for a more coordinated response during ..read more

A Maine man was killed Wednesday night after he crashed his minivan into a state police cruiser and was thrown from his vehicle. State police said Trooper Ryan Murry was parked in his marked cruiser off the road in a gravel turnout off Route 180 in Ellsworth just after 7:30 p.m. when his cruiser was struck by a vehicle. Preliminary investigation indicates that 43-year-old Jonathan Wood, of Winter Harbor, was driving south on Route 180 in a Toyota Sienna when his minivan crossed the roadway and then traveled into the dirt turnout, striking Murry’s cruiser. The minivan rolled over, and Wood was ..read more