Law enforcement officers acted in self-defense when using deadly force during a reported home invasion in Vassalboro in February 2017 that resulted in two deaths, the state attorney general’s office has announced.
In a report released Wednesday, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Marchese said an investigation determined Maine State Police Lt. Scott Ireland and Trooper Jeffrey Parks “reasonably believed that unlawful deadly force was imminently threatened.” It was reasonable for each officer to use deadly force to counter the threat posed by Kadhar Bailey, who was a suspect in a home invasion in Vassalboro.
Bailey and Ambroshia Fagre, a passenger in his vehicle, were shot and killed after Bailey fired several rounds from his handgun at officers and rammed a police cruiser with his SUV, authorities said.
The report said Bailey fired a handgun at the officers and rammed Parks’ cruiser with his vehicle, causing airbag deployment and moving the cruiser about 50 feet, according to the report. When approached by Ireland after the crash, Bailey made a series of quick movements toward the center console of his sport utility vehicle while looking back at Ireland.
Ireland fired one shot from his patrol rifle, which struck Bailey in the neck. He died at the scene. Fagre was struck by a bullet intended for Bailey and died at Maine Medical Center in Portland later that day.
The shooting happened after a police investigation of burglaries, including one at the Vassalboro home of Maine golf legend Dickie Browne. A burglar put a gun to his head, tied him up in the basement and ransacked his home, on Fairway Avenue, opposite the Natanis Golf Course, which the Browne family owns and operates.
A police investigation determined that Bailey offered to shovel Browne’s roof for $100, but Browne declined and watched Bailey walk away. Moments later, he heard noise coming from his garage and encountered Bailey, who held him at gunpoint and ordered him back into the house. Bailey tied Browne up and spent the next several hours going through his house while intermittently checking on Browne and threatening to kill him.
Bailey, 25, of Gardiner, left the home in Browne’s pickup truck and ditched it on a snowmobile trail near Arnold and Webber Pond roads. He made his way back to the area where Fagre was when he encountered the officers, including Vassalboro police Chief Mark Brown.
Brown ordered Bailey to drop the weapon, but instead of complying, Bailey advanced and made a movement toward Brown, who fired his weapon, but did not strike Bailey, according to the attorney general’s report.
Brown fired additional shots at Bailey as Bailey drove the vehicle in his direction. The altercation continued after Bailey intentionally rammed the Maine State Police cruiser and fired several shots at the officers.
Marchese’s report said Ireland found Fagre slumped over in an SUV and determined that she was very lethargic. Fagre, 18, of Oakland, already was slumped over in the passenger seat of the vehicle and out of the officers’ line of sight when she was struck by a single bullet.
The attorney general’s office report said the unintended death of Fagre did not affect the legal analysis of whether Parks acted reasonably by firing at Bailey.
Jason Pafundi — 621-5663
Twitter: @jasonpafundiKJ
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