CORINNA — A man was arrested on a charge of domestic violence assault Monday afternoon following a six-hour standoff with Maine State Police, who surrounded a home based on a report of an “emergency” situation involving a person there with a gun.
Gregory Frank, 55, was arrested Monday afternoon and taken to the Penobscot County jail, police said. Before going to jail, though, Frank was treated for a bite wound he received from a police dog after refusing to submit to arrest, according to Maine State Police Lt. Sean Hashey.
“He didn’t give up peacefully,” Hashey said.
Maine State Police shut down a road in Corinna following the 7:30 a.m. report of an emergency. Traffic was diverted at Packard Road and St. Albans Road in Corinna, as authorities negotiated with Frank. A dispatcher at the Augusta Regional Communications Center said the state police tactical team had been called to the area.
Hashey said police received a 911 call from a woman on Packard Road alleging domestic violence. Once troopers arrived there, they found Frank had a firearm and was standing in the driveway of the residence.
Police asked Frank to put down the weapon, but Frank refused, Hashey said. That eventually lead to the standoff, which ultimately ended shortly after 2 p.m.
Hashey said they were able to get the woman out of the residence safely, and evacuated some of the neighbors as well. Frank’s son was brought to the residence to speak with him, but Hashey said the situation concluded before the son could speak to Frank.
Hashey said a tactical team and a crisis negotiation team spoke to Frank, who remained in the driveway near an adjacent shed for the duration of the standoff.
Police were able to get him into custody, but not before he was bitten by a police dog because he was refusing to submit to arrest. No one else was injured at the scene, and Hashey described the wound as minor.
Hashey did not believe police had been to the residence to deal with Frank before, saying he “wasn’t familiar” with officers on site. Frank did not have a restraining order against him, and Hashey said he believed Frank was living at the house.
He described the standoff as an incident “that could have probably concluded much easier,” since Frank was the one who refused to put down the weapon and speak with police. Frank will initially be charged with domestic assault, though more charges may come.
A child may have been in the house around the time the incident began but was allowed to get onto a school bus before police arrived.
Hashey said neighbors were cooperative during the standoff, and they were glad there was a successful resolution.
Packard Road is a quiet dirt road that stretches about two miles and connects St. Albans Road and Lincolns Mills Road. The road was blocked at the intersection with St. Albans Road, and during the standoff neither drivers nor pedestrians were allowed past a certain point near Lincolns Mills Road.
All told, there were more than 20 state police vehicles still at the scene after Frank had been taken away by ambulance.
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