BELFAST, Maine — The man accused of holding a Stockton Elementary School fifth-grade classroom hostage three months ago pleaded not guilty to 41 charges stemming from that incident when he appeared in Waldo County Superior Court on Wednesday.
Randall B. Hofland, 55, of Searsport was indicted on 22 counts of kidnapping, 12 counts of criminal restraint with a dangerous weapon, six counts of criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon and one count of burglary by the Waldo County grand jury last week. He was arraigned on those 41 charges before Justice Jeffrey Hjelm Wednesday and entered not guilty pleas on each.
Hofland was arrested at the school after the Oct. 31 armed hostage-taking. None of the students was physically injured during the incident.
Justice Hjelm continued the $1 million bail that was imposed when Hofland first was arrested and also ordered that Hofland be held in the Penobscot County Jail so that he can be closer to his attorney, Jeffrey Toothaker, of Ellsworth. Hofland was being held at the York County Jail.
Superior Court Clerk Terry Curtis said Hofland made no mention of the school incident during his appearance before Justice Hjelm but he did remark on the removal of certain items from his property in Searsport after his arrest.
Many of the goods were believed to belong to retired sea captain George Perkins, but Hofland claimed they were his. Hofland worked as a caregiver for Perkins at his Stockton Springs home during the first half of the decade.
During a phone conversation from the York County Jail last month, Hofland insisted that the items belonged to him and that the Searsport Police Department was wrong to give them to Perkins.
When Perkins returned home from the hospital in 2005 he noticed many of his personal belongings were missing and accused Hofland of taking them. The items ranged from tools, to power equipment and welding supplies. There were also two long guns, which Hofland said were given to him by his father.
“All this stuff is mine. It’s all my property,” Hofland said from jail last month. “None of those guns were stolen by me, now they’ve been stolen by George.”
Hofland declined to discuss the hostage-taking other than to say that he told the schoolchildren that “it was important for the news media to tell the truth.”
At the time he entered the school on Halloween morning, Hofland had been the subject of a police manhunt for a week. On Oct. 23 he allegedly brandished a handgun at a Searsport police officer during a routine safety check a few hundred yards from his Route 1 residence. Hofland drove to his residence and fled into the woods.
Later that night as police combed the area looking for him, Hofland called the Waldo County Communications Center and told a dispatcher that there would be a “war” unless the police backed off.
Hofland entered the school at 8:35 a.m. Oct. 31 and attempted to pull two boys into a gymnasium locker room. When a bus driver challenged him, Hofland allegedly drew his 10 mm Glock handgun and pointed it at the man. Hofland then left the gym and forced his way into the fifth-grade classroom.
He allegedly ordered the teacher from the room at gunpoint and then went to the corner where the 11 students were huddled. He let two crying students leave the room and a short time later handed the gun to a male student and stepped into the hallway where he was immediately tackled by a state trooper and taken to the county jail.
On 1/8/09 at 9:29 AM,
pcme2000 wrote:
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I believe that this gentlemen only want into that school to surrender because he knew that it would attact a lot of tv and media attention and there for he could surrender without being shot or beat up by law enforcement. If he really wanted to hurt someone he would have and he didn't. He was smart to surender that way.
On 1/8/09 at 10:33 AM,
bewest wrote:
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pcme2000 - He DID hurt those kids, emotionally and psychologically, as well as teachers, staff, parents and other family members. He terrorized all involved. My child was in the fourth grade classroom next to the fifth grade, divided only be a curtain. They were the last class to be ushered out of the building after the piece of dirt was arrested. While hiding, my child feared for her life as she thought he was going to enter their classroom as well. She was in so much fear that she was shaking all over and vomited. She heard first hand from a couple classmates, who came running into the classroom, of a gunman in the gym who even tried to grab them, she could hear the fifth grade teacher cry for help, she could hear the voices in the fifth grade classroom on the other side of the curtain, the police talking to Hofland, and the scuffle and yelling during the arrest. That is something most adults never experience let alone 9 and 10 year-old children. Their sense of security in their small town school was shattered. Even at home after that happened, her sense of security was shattered. To be a parent and to receive a call that there is a gunman in your child's school and that is all you know is a hellish nightmare. I can't remember ever screaming, crying and feeling so scared and helpless in my life as that moment. All you can picture are the national news stories of Columbine type school shootings, and you pray out loud to God that that is not happening to your child, and you wish you could be holding and protecting your child at that moment. Hofland didn't fire off a shot, thank God, but he did hurt many people in other ways. Please don't give him any credit of being smart in the way he surrendered. I can't even describe in enough words of what a coward and monster he is for terrorizing elementary school children.
On 1/8/09 at 2:11 PM,
Cmccoy wrote:
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bring back capital punishment, this guy that went into that school with a gun, is nothing more than a terriorist, he brought terror into that classroom and the school building, terriorest need to be dealt with harshly
On 1/8/09 at 2:44 PM,
citizens wrote:
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how could he possibly plead not guilty, was it his ghost in that school. crazy son of a gun, lock him up. you don't hold a school hostage and think your not guilty. crazy maybe, but guilty. we wonder what makes people think they can get away with all the stupid stuff that goes on in the world today. i don't know about anyone else but it makes me wonder.
On 1/8/09 at 2:54 PM,
Lewis85 wrote:
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Not guilty does he think there were no witnesses. He was lucid enough to avoid the police for a week so I don't see how he can claim insanity.
On 1/8/09 at 6:04 PM,
Beelzebubba wrote:
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Hey, this is Maine...he'll be out in a few years.
On 1/8/09 at 8:35 PM,
Kevin_of_Bangor wrote:
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I'm not defending his actions but he has the right to plead not guilty. That is his given right whether any of you like it or not. Granted his plea will do nothing but drag this out in court and some of the children he terrorized might have to testify because he had the right to plead not guilty. To me it just sounds as if he is playing a game with the court system and will drag it out as long as possible but sadly he has the right to do this. He is going to be found guilty, he knows it, I know it and everyone else knows it.
Bewest I'm sorry to hear your child had to go threw such an ordeal. I hope she can learn to feel secure again in time.
On 1/8/09 at 10:13 PM,
mousehunt wrote:
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Crime against Children should be dealt with quick.He never needs to see the light off day again throw away the key.We have sunk to a all time low in this state we call home.If anyone needs life in prison this person does.Any crime of this nature needs to be dealt with very very harsh.
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