Officer Connor Lapierre of the Fort Kent Police Department mans a roadblock on Aroostook Road as three law enforcement agencies respond to an incident in a residence there on Friday, February 24.(Fiddlehead Focus/SJVT photo/Jessica Potila)

Police stand-off ends well in Fort Kent

A four-hour-long standoff between police and a man who barricaded himself in a Fort Kent home with a rifle on Friday night has ended without injury. Police incarcerated the man at the Aroostook County Jail in Houlton.

FORT KENT, Maine — A four-hour-long standoff between police and a man who barricaded himself in a Fort Kent home with a rifle on Friday night has ended without injury. Police incarcerated the man at the Aroostook County Jail in Houlton.

At about 5 p.m. a 53-year-old woman called 911 to report that her estranged boyfriend, Gary Theriault, age 60 of Fort Kent, was attempting to break into her home at 562 Aroostook Road. The woman was able to escape from the home before Theriault forcibly entered through a rear entrance, according to Chief Tom Pelletier of the Fort Kent Police Department.

“Theriault parked his vehicle a ways from the house and walked to the house,” Pelletier said.

Pelletier and FKPD Officers Connor Lapierre and Curtis Picard responded to the scene within minutes and witnessed the man walking on the property with a rifle in his hand.

“He ended up getting back into the house and barricading himself in the house,” Pelletier said. “We secured the scene and evacuated local residents from their homes.”

The FKPD received assistance from the Maine State Police, the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, all of whom helped to create a roadblock.

Meanwhile, emergency responders with Ambulance Services Inc. were on standby in an ambulance parked in a driveway several feet north of Bradbury Road, a few miles from the scene.

The Maine State Police Tactical Team also responded to the incident, and some were en route from as far away as Portland when the incident came to an end.

Chief Pelletier negotiated with Theriault via telephone for four hours, before Theriault surrendered without incident at 9:15 p.m.

Route 11 was reopened at approximately 9:30 p.m.

Police charged Theriault with violation of condition of release, violation of a protection order, criminal threatening, and creating a standoff.

Theriault had been living at the home with the victim until about three weeks ago when police arrested him for domestic terrorizing, and the court placed a protection order barring Theriault from having contact with the victim, according to Pelletier.

More charges are pending, including a possible burglary charge, Pelletier said.

Law enforcement initially brought Theriault to the Fort Kent Police Department before transporting him to the Aroostook County Jail in Houlton. He will appear at Fort Kent District Court on Monday, April 3.

“It doesn’t always end this good. None of my guys got hurt. We were very fortunate that nobody got hurt in the incident including (Theriault). It was a good ending all around,” Chief Pelletier said.