Maine man shot after allegedly stealing front-end loader and threatening house

By Ethan Andrews, Bangor Daily News Staff

A Maine man was arrested on Tuesday morning, Jan. 14 after allegedly threatening to drive a stolen front-end loader through a home.

The incident started with a call to Penobscot County emergency dispatchers at about 5:30 a.m. from a person who said people appeared to be stealing a front-end loader from a gravel pit near the caller’s home on Upper Notch Road in Garland, the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.

Garland is about 25 miles northwest of Bangor.

Soon after the initial call, the caller reported that the front-end loader was now in their driveway, attempting to run through their house and destroying vehicles in their driveway, according to the sheriff’s office. 

Based on an initial investigation, the sheriff’s office said people in the home came out and fired several gunshots at the front-end loader. The machine then reversed out of the driveway and fled the scene, crossing a large field and going down a road into the woods.

At about 6:10 a.m. emergency dispatchers received a report of a front-end loader driving on a road. 

Police found the vehicle on Center Road in Charleston. The driver, Michael Thompson, 37, of Corinna, surrendered without incident and told them he had been shot, the sheriff’s office said. After being treated at a hospital, he was arrested and brought to Penobscot County Jail.

The sheriff’s office did not state the charges against Thompson but said the investigation remains active and additional charges may be pending.