BANGOR, Maine — A local man is behind bars for attempting to set fire to a Bangor Police Department cruiser that was parked at the station on Saturday morning, Bangor police Lt. Steve Hunt said.
Ian Bodger, 61, was charged with felony arson after setting a fire under the cruiser around 10 a.m., the lieutenant said.
“Officer [George] Spencer was coming into work and he sees a fellow, Mr. Bodger, [crouched] down by one of the police cruisers,” Hunt said.
Spencer asked Bodger what he was doing and Bodger said he was going to burn up the car, the lieutenant said.
“He had set a small fire under the police car,” Hunt said.
The car was moved before any real damage was done to it, and the fire was extinguished, the lieutenant said.
Bodger was arrested and taken to Penobscot County Jail, where he remained Saturday night. He faces a penalty of up to 30 years if convicted of the felony arson. (Nok-Noi Ricker, BDN)
Yeah baby !
Setting a cop car on fire at the police station ??
What next.
That about takes the cake.
Sheeesh !
3 hots and a cot , coming up.
He never set it on fire though I don’t see how they can get him on felony arson.
“He had set a small fire under the police car,” Hunt said.
The act of setting the fire, even if it didnt result in the car burning, was still an act of arson.
We do not know the intent of setting the fire maybe he did not ant to burn the car just to keep warm.
Um, he SAID that he was going to burn up the car… Pretty clear what his intention was.
IF your conspiracy theory prone mind wants to run around in circles and think that he was just setting a fire to keep warm, why do it in the parking lot of the police station?
Like I said his we do not know his intent it might have been to go to jail.
Hmmmmmmmmmm maybe I have a conspiracy prone mind or maybe most people do not look at this the way the are . I have seen a lot of crap in my day You would say that’s my conspiracy prone mind. Like the Greenleaf case do I think they should have been convicted maybe not but would a kid from the other side of the tracks had pushed a person of influence and they died would they have been convicted . I think they would have………… I have been to court a few times . I have seen how it works for some . Like the UMO hockey player getting let go for OUI. Someone with lessor socieconomic statues would not be . I talked to a dispatcher that was so upset about this she resigned. Don’t question authority Ya right.
Technically, if you light a match belonging to someone else ….you’d be guilty of arson. Read the statute if you dont believe me.
The cops will charge him with that, then he’ll sit in jail over the winter. If he’s mentally ill, he’ll get refered to a mental hospital. He’ll go to trial, and the charge will get dropped down to somthing else. In the meantime, he’ll get cleaned up, fed, and housed for the winter.
and he should be!!! Everyone should have food and shelter!! This is the USA not a third world country……..yet
Where did this come from?
I never said that he shouldn’t.
Wow…
This is what happens when a society is derelict in its obligation to the mentally ill. Constitutionally this guy is guilty of nothing, suffering from a mental disease or defect.
Thank you, Dr. Craftsman1962. When are your regular office hours?
8-5 Mon-Friday. That will be 5 cents please.
WRONG!
Legally, as in constitutionally, this individual committed a crime. And I find it incredulous that you would make such an absurd conclusion/faulted diagnosis from a printed article in the BDN.
Felony arson…ahh no. Nice try that will get thrown out.
WRONG!
Arson, vandalism, attempted destruction of govt/municipal property, possession of rape tools, extreme stupidity……take yer pick.
You should actually read the constitution someday,once you learn to read of course.
Rather obvious that you are not the least bit ashamed of showing your ignorance in front of all these folks.
I agree. BMHI adn AMHI need to be up and running. These mentally ill folks need to be taken care off. what if that was your family member cold and hungry, yet wouldn’t stay inside and let you help them???? someone loves these folks and is hurting every day wondering where they are and if they are hurt, cold etc. We live in a very hateful world for the poor and mentally ill. sometimes those ills go hand in hand.
The wickedest among us will always seek to pummel the most vulnerable among us.
oooh i like that. Who said it?
Maybe he was just drunk or high on something, this doesnt mean he is mentally ill?
Where in the constitution does it say that you can commit a crime if you are crazy?
You wannabe constitutional scholars should read the thing before you start making up what it does and does not cover…
Do yourself a favor a google mental disease or defect defense…go on, I dare you to be informed.
This is not the action of a rational man.
The Police seem to have a hard time protecting there own turf. this is the 3rd incidence with police crusers in there own parking lot in a few months. Maybe they should have built the Police Station in a safer neighborhood.
Most modern police agencies have their vehicles parked in a secure compound, fenced, key card access only, with parking for officers personal vehicles unless they have take home units.
Notice I said most “modern”.
Where’s this at? Bucksport, Bangor, Brewer are wide open.
I think you need a new source of information.
I think not.
Yea….like comic books.
That may well be, but this is Maine and your sentence should read, “Few police agencies.” If people have a problem w/these vehicles not being kept in a fenced, secure compound, then don’t squawk when the city has to raise taxes to pay for one.
Well, I’m sure the police asked for a secure parking lot, but they didn’t get the funding for it.
As for the rest of your comment, you need to stop getting your information about the police from TV shows.
I know not what “rest of your comment” refers to, but I get my information first hand and not from any ill informed TV shows.
Let me guess….your not a expert,but you play one on TV ?
You probably think of yourself as some sort of comedian, but in reality just another pin head making a fool of himself for all to see, and be amused by.
This guy may eventually get a mental assessment, but in the meantime, what’s the cop supposed to do when the guy admits to trying to set the car on fire . . . buy him a cup of coffee?
bathsalts?
I am gonna just put this out there…do you think he may have wanted to be arrested ? Maybe tired or cold, may have just wanted a warm place and food for a spell. Not that uncommon.
Not uncommon at all, This has been happening for 100’s of years. Usually by those who have lived day to day and when winter comes, depends upon the local constabulary to house and feed them over the difficult times. I have known of a few in my lifetime and at least one in my fathers time as told to me by him when I was younger. (a lot younger).
My Uncle use to spend his “winter vacation” in Windom. He wasn’t the brightest bulb in the tree, but he was smart enough to figure out that you get 3 hots and a cot if you do something stupid, ie, get caught eating hot dogs and drinking old duke at the IGA after hours, you spend the winter in Windom.
That is the same thing I was thinking. Homeless
We’ve had Otis locked up over here in Brewer (Mayberry) for the last 2 weeks.
I totally agree. He wanted a roof a 3 squares a day.
He wanted to go to jail. It is a safe way to get arrested without getting hurt or hurting anyone else. 61 years old and homeless…it was cold last night.
You are, more than likely, correct.
His timing is impecable. 30 days plus a couple of weeks waiting for trial will take him through the worse of the winter behind bars. Then he can spend the summer in the bars…
I wonder what that says for a society when people who live in the land of the free are willing to trade their liberty for a full belly and a warm place to sleep?
This screams mental illness mad/or wanting a warm bed. These people can use crisis by many small means, and use a hospital option rather then jail. A good lawyer and phychiatrist could probably get him placed at Riverview.
I know a couple of homeless men that love the food on the fourth floor of Theyar (Can’t remember the name of hospital that purchased them) I think they have 40 beds. These two men go there every winter. One man refuses all treatment plans and classes, they still replace him. I can almost guarentee if I go there right now, he is there. Food is great. I have also noticed the phych ward gets elderly with dementia that hasn’t got placement yet. I watched one very nice lady take up so much of staffs quality time. She needed to be a one on one because she was always so confused. This is where somthing has to be created less expensive then hospitalization for longer term stabalized; waiting for housing or placements. Or the system has to be repaired so that things move along smoother and faster. To have an elderly lady live in a phych ward for well over a month, is too much, for everyone involved.
A little history here: back in the late 1980s-early 1990s the state of Maine signed a Consent Decree, which obligated it to find alternatives to inpatient treatment. Except for some patients who were deemed a long-term danger to themselves or society, most were mainstreamed into society, and most of the inpatient services at AMHI and BMHI were eliminated.
Out of that, the need arose for community support services, group homes, and state-subsidized housing. Through the years, however, state funding for these programs has been reduced, often to the point where the only area resources became police departments and/or hospital emergency rooms. We now have a governor who wants to further reduce and/or sever completely the safety net that mentally ill people need. Instead of a forward-thinking administration, we now have one that would create a need to reopen AMHI and BMHI. If it comes to that, may I suggest that the first patient to be admitted should be our illustrious governor, himself?
What a fart smella. He must have graduated from Bangor High!
30 years? was the cop in the car at the time?
I dont ready anywhere on here that says he is mentally ill or homeless.
Well he must have got a free ride to crow bar hotel and all expences paid vacation for a month or two. With the free meal and health insurance package at no extra charge.
Darn, I was hoping for a good Bath Salts story with that headline.