Man fell through pond ice while fleeing from Penobscot sheriff’s deputies

By Christopher Burns, Bangor Daily News Staff

A Parkman man fell through pond ice in Dexter while fleeing from sheriff’s deputies late last week.

Shawn Stewart, 23, was charged with reckless conduct, eluding an officer, resisting arrest, criminal speeding, falsifying physical evidence, and violating his conditions of release, according to the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office.

A deputy spotted Stewart at a business in Exeter about 12:30 p.m. Friday, and after determining Steward had eight sets of bail conditions, including not possessing firearms or other dangerous weapons, the officer questioned him, the sheriff’s office said.

Stewart denied having any weapons in his vehicle. Stewart then put his vehicle in reverse and “backed out aggressively” with the door open and deputy partially in the vehicle, according to the sheriff’s office.

The deputy pursued Stewart as he sped away, but quickly lost sight of him.

Deputies tracked Stewart to a Line Road residence in Dexter. When they arrived, Stewart ran into the woods behind the house. Inside the home’s garage, they found his vehicle and a firearm that Stewart allegedly had possessed. Stewart also was not supposed to have contact with someone at the home as part of his bail conditions.

Deputies and a state trooper tracked Stewart to a nearby pond, where he had apparently fallen through the ice as he tried to walk across it.

Deputies later found Stewart hiding under a pile of blankets inside a camp he allegedly broke into. The sheriff’s office said that Stewart appeared to have broken into other camps in the area.

Stewart was taken to the Penobscot County Jail in Bangor.