True Crime and News of the Weird from around the Globe

Maine Maniac Holds Up McDonald’s at Chainsaw Point

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Alice Sweet

WESTBROOK, Maine — They must have had the McRib.

A maniac in Maine marched into a McDonald’s with a chainsaw, leapt over the counter and began menacing employees before walking off with some food and a drink, cops said.

Police in Westbrook, Maine say they received numerous 911 calls that a lunatic was on the loose, chasing people with a chainsaw at McDonald’s.  

Every on-duty officer in the department immediately responded to the area and quickly located the suspect at a tire shop nearby. The suspect, identified as 26-year-old Alice Sweet, of Portland, ran from officers, but was quickly caught and arrested without further incident.

Investigators say Sweet entered McDonald’s with the chainsaw, went behind the counter where the employees were actively preparing food, revved the chainsaw intermittently, and stole a drink and some food.

When the manager confronted Sweet in the parking lot, he began chasing the manager with the chainsaw. Sweet also used the chainsaw to damage two vehicles that were at the restaurant. 

Sweet was charged with robbery, criminal mischief and refusing to submit to arrest.

Bumbling Burglar Breaks Into Wrong Home, Finding 330-Pound Prison Guard Inside

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Anthony Jones bit off more than he could chew

LIMINGTON, Maine — He picked the wrong house to mess with.

A 6-foot-2, 330-pound Maine corrections officer flattened a burglar who barged into his home as he was getting ready to get to work, police said.

The York County Sheriff’s office says 35-year-old Anthony Jones had forced his way into Sean Wilson’s home Monday evening, discovering the towering officer and two of young children who are under the age of four.

Wilson “noticed that Jones was sweating profusely and bleeding from the mouth as he approached,” and “was rambling about people chasing him” and appeared to be high on drugs, the sheriff’s office said.

The officer told his two kids to get into a rear bedroom and then ordered Jones to get down on the floor. But when Jones started moving towards the bedroom, Wilson — who played lineman on his high school football team — leveled the intruder and then sat down upon him and called 911.

Wilson kept Jones restrained until police arrived and arrested him on a burglary charge. Jones was also wanted for violating his probation stemming from a domestic violence incident. Deputies took Jones was taken to a hospital for observation.

Cops say Wilson and Jones do not appear to know each other and “that Jones simply picked the wrong house to burglarize.”

Dad Busted for Shooting Sons With BB Gun as ‘Rite of Passage’

By HardBoiledNews Staff

 

James Pelletier claims he thought this was a good way to teach about gun safety

HOLLIS, Maine — A father of two boys was arrested in Maine after shooting them both with a BB gun as part of a bizarre “rite of passage,” police said.

James Pelletier, 46, told cops he shot his 9-year-old son in the upper thigh and his 11-year-old brother in the arm in order for them to “know what it feels like getting hit so they won’t shoot other people,” Maine state police said.

He insisted to investigators that he shot “not out of anger, but as a rite of passage to get their own BB gun.”

The boys, however, told cops their father shot them because they failed to do their chores.

The episode came to the attention of police after they received a call from officials at the boys’ school.

Pelletier was held on felony charges of endangering the welfare of a child and domestic violence reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon.

Maine Dad Uses Backhoe to Trash Son’s Mobile Home in Rent Dispute

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Dad used this backhoe to pick up and drop his son’s mobile home three times

PARSONSFIELD, Maine — Well, that escalated quickly.

An enraged father in Maine used a backhoe to pick up and drop the mobile home where his son lived in a dispute over unpaid rent.

Police say John Bubar, 50, only stopped trashing the mobile home with the construction vehicle when he realized his 7-year-old grandson was inside.

“Apparently, a dispute arose that day about rent payments and debris around the mobile home,” York County Sheriff Bill King said. “John Bubar took the extraordinary step of using a large construction-grade front-end loader and backhoe to damage the mobile home.”

Witnesses said Bubar picked up and dropped the mobile home — where his 27-year-old son Michael lives — three times on Sunday and then started to use the bucket to tear into the structure but stopped when he was told that his grandson was inside. The boy was not hurt.

Police say the home sustained considerable damage

The elder Bubar was charged with a charge of domestic violence, reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon. Bail was set at $5,000.

The Portland Press Herald reported that police had responded to the Bubar home seven times this year and 10 times last year. John Bubar has an arrest record dating back to the late 1980s with busts on charges including assault and cruelty to animals.