A Massachusetts man is now the third person charged with an arson fire that destroyed a bulldozer this month in Sandy River Plantation in Franklin County, according to Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.
Michael Stanley, 23, of Gardner, Massachusetts, was arrested by the Gardner police on Wednesday and is being held on a fugitive from justice charge awaiting his extradition to Maine, according to McCausland.
Two Maine men also have been arrested and charged with arson.
Alexander Allan, 37, of Dallas Plantation was arrested by fire marshal investigators. Allan’s roommate, Devon Clark, 18, also was arrested in connection with the arson case.
Fire marshal investigators say Stanley is a friend of Allan and Clark. The burned-out Caterpillar D-5 bulldozer was discovered in a swamp off Beech Hill Road in Sandy River Plantation on Nov. 14 by hunters. Damage was estimated at $100,000.
An excavator also had been taken from the work site and was damaged but not set on fire.
Both pieces of equipment are owned by Cousineau Wood Products of Wilton, which also owns the land they were found on. The equipment was being used to repair a road on the property, McCausland said.
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the Maine Warden Service assisted in the case.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
