Old Town man faces charges in ransom hoax
11/23/09 | 20 comments

Old Town man faces charges in ransom hoax


By Judy Harrison
BDN Staff

BANGOR, Maine — A 19-year-old man who claimed he was being held captive Friday in the parking lot of the Bangor Mall Cinemas 10 has been charged with filing a false report or alarm and failing to give a correct name and address.

The Bangor Police Department said Saturday it had received information about 5:45 p.m. Friday that Daniel Chute, who lives in Old Town and Raymond, was being held captive in a car in the movie theater parking lot on Stillwater Avenue.

The alleged captors had demanded that several hundred dollars be wired to them and had threatened to shoot Chute if they did not get the money, police said.

More than two hours later, with the assistance of a telephone company, Chute, along with an unidentified male and female, were located in a car in the parking lot of Burlington Coat Factory off Springer Drive.

Bangor police said Saturday the apparent hoax also involved the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department. In addition to the police staff devoted to finding Chute and his nonexistent kidnappers, Sgt. Paul Edwards said, a local dispatcher monitored the call full time, and representatives in Florida with the AT&T National Compliance Center updated satellite-coordinate information for Bangor officers in an attempt to locate Chute.

If convicted, Chute faces up to a year in prison and a fine of up to $2,000. He also could be ordered to pay restitution for the cost of locating him.

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Comments
20 comments on this item
On 11/22/09 at 10:19 PM, sassykat01 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

where there... how about that for some ignorent game

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On 11/23/09 at 12:22 AM, JoshuaWS wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Idiot...

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On 11/23/09 at 2:16 AM, Amazed wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

The captors were going to "shoot Chute". Couldn't have chosen a better name for this whole charade!

In all seriousness, I think he should get the 1 year jail time, the 2,000 dollar fine and pay restitution. This state is in a sad financial mess, people are losing their jobs and we've got this smart a$$ who just racked up a bill at the taxpayers expense!!! We need to tighten the reins on these types of crimes, as we simply cannot afford this foolishness!!

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On 11/23/09 at 4:27 AM, bubbalouie wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Come on now... don't be so rough on him.... they just needed a few bucks to get high. Or maybe they just wanted to buy one of them nice Burlington coats,

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On 11/23/09 at 6:44 AM, dgermond wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Moron. Send him the bill for all that man power and pinging.

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On 11/23/09 at 7:24 AM, BettyB wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

what a friggen retard ! ! ! !

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On 11/23/09 at 8:19 AM, brooks10 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I can't believe the lengths stupid people will go to in this day and age.....the authorities need to make an exception to this fool and show the public **it like this will not be tolerated.....I bet they needed money for drugs...

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On 11/23/09 at 8:20 AM, DaddyBiggs wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

How do *you* spell D-U-H?

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On 11/23/09 at 8:42 AM, opinionated wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Ok, and to what account was the money supposed to wired? Don't suppose that would have been traceable either. Obviously the drugs have induced serious brain damage. Dumba**

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On 11/23/09 at 9:22 AM, coexist wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

lol that's hilarious, he's been watching too much NCIS and Law and Order!

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On 11/23/09 at 11:36 AM, DougLavigne wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

He made himself look like a cheap dumbas$, just a few hundred bucks, that;s all he's worth, whatta knockelhead.

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On 11/23/09 at 12:16 PM, Bumfuzzle wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Just when I think the last idiot in this state has had his hurrah, another one comes along. Keep breeding folks; I can use the laughs.

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On 11/23/09 at 12:17 PM, whatmeow wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

OMG what a putz!

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On 11/23/09 at 2:52 PM, Hampden1 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Numb SOB! What, was he trying to impress his female friend?? Loser!!

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On 11/23/09 at 3:23 PM, wspahn wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I put it to you, m'lord, that the phrase "19-year-old man" is oxymoronic.

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On 11/23/09 at 4:34 PM, JackWh wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Well, I hope they don't put a 19-year old in jail A YEAR for this. It's really not worth damaging his life now, which is what would happen, for this one stupid act (assuming the paper has reported all the historical facts here).

Yes - fine him the max. Yes - make him re-pay the police costs of it.

But please don't put him in jail for this. Let Justice be served, and for this jail would not be justice.

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On 11/23/09 at 7:31 PM, blueskiesaboveme wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

If he thinks kidnapping and ransoms is a game,

Perhaps the more fitting punishment would be to send him to a country where they actually kidnap people for high ransoms.

How about Columbia and let the FARC take care of him,

Or maybe put him on a freighter and let the Somali Pirates work out a deal with him.

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On 11/24/09 at 3:20 PM, ironwolf56 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

A few hundred dollars in ransom? Wow everything really is more pathetic in Maine. Even in the movie Fargo it was like 20 grand or something.

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On 11/24/09 at 4:49 PM, Kingazoid wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I'm sure there is some social program this idiot could be taken into for studies that cost us more $$$. Every knucklehead on a campus university that has never been out of the sanctity of the campus would say he needs extensive evaluation and we should figure out why he did this to prevent this in the future. Simple answer is that some people are stupid. He qualifies. Study done. No $$$.

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On 11/24/09 at 7:36 PM, cbpo2858 wrote: Click here to view hidden comment         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
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