Maine news, sports, weather | Kennebec Journal, Augusta, Maine

Violent crimes rarein Maine

BY CRAIG CROSBY Staff Writer

BY CRAIG CROSBY

Staff Writer

Reports of Tuesday's home invasion in Pittston can shatter the public's sense of safety, but police say Maine is one of the last places in the country you would expect such a crime to occur.

"We live in a very safe community," Kennebec County Sheriff Randall A. Liberty said. "The occurrence that happened early this morning is a very rare act."

William G. Guerrette Jr., 48, and his 10-year-old daughter, Nicole, were both flown to Central Maine Medical Center following an early-morning invasion Tuesday at their Pittston home, police said.

Authorities declined to specify the types of injuries but said the attack was "vicious."

Police continued to investigate Tuesday evening and had not yet made an arrest in connection with the break-in.

Other home invasions in recent months include:

* A March incident that left a Manchester couple with minor injuries.

* A July 2007 break-in and burglary at a Windsor home in which a resident, a man in a wheelchair, was tethered to his refrigerator.

* A 2005 armed robbery at a home on College Avenue in Waterville, an incident that led to the arrest of a Waterville man in January.

Three brothers and one other man pleaded guilty in January to the July 2007 incident in Windsor.

Mark Rubin, research associate with the Muskie School's Maine Justice Policy Center, helped author a report earlier this year that found violent crimes in Maine -- murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault -- increased 12 percent between 2004 and 2006, one of the largest percentage rate increases in the nation.

Overall, Maine saw its highest violent crime rate since 1998 during the period Rubin studied.

Robbery, up 33 percent, saw the biggest increase, Rubin said. There were 383 robberies in 2006, the highest level since 1977, when there were 420.

But Rubin's study also determined that the violent crime rate in Maine was lower than any other New England state and four times lower than the national average.

"Overall, we're still pretty good compared to the national average. But when we compare it to ourselves, we've been increasing, and I think that's a concern," Rubin said.

Two-thirds of crime victims in one study believed their attacker was under the influence of drugs or alcohol when the crime occurred, Rubin said.

"It's hard to say crimes are more violent because of dependence on drugs or alcohol," Rubin said. "It wouldn't surprise me. I just don't have anything definitively to say that is the case."

Liberty believes most home invasions are drug related. The invader often believes the victim has money or drugs, he said.

"In my opinion, there's been no increase (in home invasions)," Liberty said.

Those looking to steal money, drugs or other items most often look for homes where nobody is home and there is little chance for detection.

Even when there is a break-in in an occupied home, victims usually are left relatively unharmed.

"Normally there's very little violence," he said.

Craig Crosby--623-3811, Ext. 433

ccrosby@centramaine.com