Posted on 12/15/2012 10:19:45 AM PST by Daffynition
BELMONT, Maine — Mack Page was sound asleep in his bed at 11 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 3, when he was startled awake by the frantic barking of his black Labrador.
“What have I got now?” the 63-year-old commander of the Maine Militia remembers wondering. “A raccoon? A coyote?”
But it was none of those things. Instead, Page’s dark residence on a quiet Belmont road suddenly was lit up by men outside his windows carrying flashlights. He lives alone, he’s not in the best of health and he was scared.
“They called, ‘State police! Come out with your hands up!’” he said earlier this week. “I don’t know if I got paranoid or just angry, but I challenged them. ‘Who the hell are you?’ Am I going to get tazed? Am I going to get shot by somebody?’”
(Excerpt) Read more at bangordailynews.com ...
Mr. Page is lucky they didn't shoot his Lab. :(
They are lucky he didn’t “mistake” them for home intruders.
Mistake my ass.
This is probably not the last of his problems. The state police were embarrassed by their mistake and he will have to pay for that embarrassment somehow.
They were trying to provoke him. Or scare him.
The lab was inside and they didn’t break into the house. That is a plus for the cops. Not breaking in and shooting the dog, however, may well get the cops involved reprimanded at some level.
In the age of Google maps, drones filling the skies and surveillance cameras on every tree, why should anyone believe this was a mistake?
It’s no secret cops hate militias, and if it’s common knowledge that Mack is in poor health, then maybe, just maybe, a midnight visit to his home when he’s asleep...
All of this for a “potential probation violation”?
The state police have nothing better to do with their time?
Good grief.
This is not a simple misunderstanding that can be swept under the rug. To many wrong addresses keep happening.
Where I come from we call it a pretext...; )
I believe a formal investigation by a different agency with access to the anonymous informant is in order. It really sounds like a they were reminding the militia leader that they were watching him.
With that kind of an attitude, citizen, we may just have to shoot your dog next time.
Late night probation check at 11pm that includes “come out with your hands up”? Is that how they conduct probation checks in Maine? Hard to believe.
The school tragedy had the effect of sharpening public attention on guns, and if the cops had succeeded in provoking a shoot-out with a known militia member at exactly the same time, then the pressure for new gun laws about go up 500%.
Just more political treachery.
WHO was the right perp, hmmm....?? Let’s hear it.
We won’t because there IS no perp nearby —he WAS the target that night.
Uh, yes. I read almost weekly about police going to the wrong address. I realize that most cop shows (CSI, NCIS, Hawaii 5.0) are fiction, but really? With all the resources at their command, the cops can't get the correct house so many times? I'm thinking incompetence.
And that is why, "when seconds count, the police are minutes away". Stay armed and stay safe, and use your head if they break in - this man did.
I didn't read the article. That is what this was about? I don't believe it.
Gotta love PR guys. I am unclear how the phrase 'positive direction' would in apply in this situation other than if it is a Gov't PR synonym for "He's lucky we didn't shoot him [or his dog]."
You've got THAT right, FRiend. This was a total set-up designed to provoke a response quite different than the one that transpired. I fully expect to read about an armed "stand-off" or a shoot-out with massed LEOs in the not to distant future. Zer0 needs cover to exploit the CT horror.
since when are search warrants good for the middle of the night? and for a PROBATION CHECK??? something stinks... warrants are generally served between the hours of dawn and dusk not like some NAZI's in the middle of the night
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.