WATERVILLE — A Skowhegan man and his girlfriend have been arrested following a targeted drive-by shooting spree that took place over three hours Saturday night at residences in Winslow, Waterville and Clinton Saturday, according to police.
No one was injured, although one shot fired at a May Street residence in Waterville struck a chair in which a resident was sitting.
Waterville Deputy Police Chief Bill Bonney said the shooter targeted specific individuals and that his motivation was “domestic in nature,” although the victims were not family members.
Dana S. Dasilva, 25, is facing five charges related to the gunfire, which took place between 8:20 and 11:05 p.m.
Dana Dasilva
Michelle Luce, his girlfriend, is facing one charge of Class B hindering apprehension. She had been driving Dasilva in the central Maine communities as he took shots from the backseat of the vehicle, according to Bonney.
Dasilva is charged with Class B aggravated reckless conduct, Class B attempted elevated aggravated assault, Class C aggravated criminal mischief and class C possession of a firearm as a prohibited person. He also was placed on a probation hold. He had been on probation for a prior domestic violence assault, Bonney said.
Additional charges were expected after a search of the couple’s Skowhegan residence “yielded evidence of additional crimes,” according to Bonney.
Dasilva and Luce were being held Sunday at the Kennebec County jail in Augusta. Dasilva’s cash bail has been set to $30,000 and Luce’s is $10,000. Their court date is March 9, but they will likely see a judge before that, Bonney said.
Bonney described the flurry of events leading up to the Skowhegan couple’s arrest:
“The first report was (Saturday) at around 8:20 p.m. Winslow police received a report of shots being fired on Whipple Street,” Bonney said. “They went over and investigated and initially didn’t find anything. Then, roughly 20 minutes later, we received a report of shots being fired at a residence on Elmwood Avenue here in Waterville. We responded to the area and confirmed not only that shots were fired — there was evidence of that — (but also that) a bullet had struck a house. Obviously, we were very concerned about that, started investigating and called a detective to the scene.”
Michelle Luce
At about 8:45 p.m., as the detective was investigating the Elmwood Avenue incident, Waterville police received another report of shots being fired, this time on May Street, about a mile away. It was at this location that at least one round entered the window of a residence and struck a chair on which a resident was sitting at the time. That person was not hit by the bullet.
“Obviously, this created even more concern for us,” Bonney said. “We called in an additional detective and started looking for a connection. The detectives were able to determine that there was a connection, which I can’t get into other than to say that the motivation for these crimes was domestic-related.
“While they were investigating the second and third shootings, there was a fourth shooting in Clinton. So obviously, we have a full-court press to identify the shooter and get that person apprehended at this point. We put information out to all surrounding agencies and the State Police. Fortunately, State Police was able to apprehend the subject we identified.”
Dasilva and Luce were taken into custody by State Police without incident, according to Bonney.
This story will be updated.
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