BANCROFT, Maine — State troopers responded to a report of a car on fire Saturday and found that a Lee man under the influence of bath salts intentionally had set the blaze.
State Trooper Dennis Quint, assisted by Trooper Jill Monahan and agents from the U.S. Border Patrol, responded to the Bancroft report. In his investigation, Quint discovered that Shawn Birtz, 33, of Lee was under the influence of bath salts and hallucinating and had set his girlfriend’s car on fire as the two of them were traveling on Bancroft Road. Birtz and his girlfriend were able to get out of the car, escaping injury as the vehicle was engulfed in flames.
Birtz later was taken to Houlton Regional Hospital for treatment of his consumption of bath salts. After being treated and later released, Birtz was arrested on charges of arson and domestic violence reckless conduct.
Birtz was taken to the Aroostook County Jail in Houlton.
Quint also was assisted by the investigator Ed Archer of the State Fire Marshal’s Office.
How long until an innocent person is killed by someone on bath salts? The clock is ticking…
That is my thoughts exactly!! So sad!!! Maybe they should follow this dude around after they let him out of jail and bust all of his buddies, cause you know damn well all his buddies are probably involved in illegal drug consumption!!! Go bust them all!!!! Lock their A**ES away for good!!!! There are too many young lives that are at risk of the consequences of this crap!!!!
To report information about drug crimes,
call MDEA at 800-452-6457
Visit its website at http://www.maine.gov/dps/mdea
Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/maine.drug.enforcement.agency
Pass It On
Once is enough. Thank you.
I thought only the Bangor P.D. knew how to handle people on bath salts. I know I read earlier this week that B.P.D. was one of the first departments nation wide to gain expert status on handling this problem. Why wasn’t the girlfriend charged with allowing her boyfriend to do illegal drugs. After all she is responsible for all passengers in her car. If a passenger is drinking a beer when the car gets pulled over the driver is ticketed for an open container. Same thing for not being buckled up, the driver gets the ticket. Why is this one getting a pass?
What crime is involved in “allowing someone to do drugs”? Can you tell what the statute that she violated?
The one where you are responsible for the occupants of you vehicle.
It’s not illegal to be a drunk passenger in a car, so long as you don’t have an open container. If you can prove that he did the drugs in her car, in front of her, you might have a case.
Something like this came up a few years ago in New York state. As I remember, there was a law passed saying that you couldn’t drive a car with a drunk passenger. People started realizing that the new law worked against the time honored customs of “designated drivers” and calling a taxi to take a drunk person home. I think that they got rid of the law. We don’t really know if this guy had an “open container” of bath salts in the car. He could have taken the bath salts before he got into the car. It could be that his girlfriend was trying to take him home or to the hospital …. She can’t be held responsible for everything he does.
That’s a little different. It is legal to consume alcohol. Bathsalts are illegal. If a 21 year old has a bunch of drunk teens in their car, the driver is going to get a ticket as well. Even if the driver was sober.
” If a 21 year old has a bunch of drunk teens in their car, the driver is
going to get a ticket as well. Even if the driver was sober. ” Interesting. What would be the charge against the sober driver? If that’s really what happens, it would be very much like the problematic NY law. Would it be different if the sober driver was 40 yrs old? Back to illegal drugs – Of course I could be wrong, but I don’t understand how the driver could be held legally responsible for whatever drugs their passenger may have taken. Would police and paramedics be exempt? (would they be permitted to transport a person who may have taken illegal drugs?) I don’t know.
Because his girlfriend is not his keeper….How do you know they weren’t on the way to get help?
I am your keeper if you are in my vehicle. Because the story didn’t say so.
this sh*t is unreal, why the heck would ANYONE take this sh*t, but yet the fools keep doing it..you would think hearing about all the weird stuff they do while on it, they wouldn’t dare!
There’s a certain percentage of the population that would stand in line to buy a product that was guaranteed to kill as long as they got high first. It’s human nature.
Hmm, you might have an idea there.
No I don’t beleive that it’s human nature. I don’t think anyone sane wants to die. It is in the nature of a drug addict who care’s for no one, espicaly themselfs.
There are plenty of functional MRI studies that correlate limbic system defects with self-destructive behaviors and impulse control defects. It’s physiology, therefore, it’s human nature.
OK Dr. Who, The only thing I have to say is “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah”.
God forbid you take an opportunity to learn something.
With you being the teacher? Those that can, Do, Those that can’t, Teach.
Learn This:
To report information about drug crimes,
call MDEA at 800-452-6457
Visit its website at http://www.maine.gov/dps/mdea
Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/maine.drug.enforcement.agency
Pass It On . . .
Watch out! People don’t take kindly to the informed around here….
LOL. If you have any brain cells left in you head, you will NEVER trust a druggie to not rat you out. That is what they do the first chance they get if it will make life easier for them. How do you think the MDEA gets all their info?
There is absolutely NO honor amongst theives.
Not sure where this thread is going?
I would think that being called a Gallifreyan time lord would be quite the honor.
It is called the freudian death force or something like that, he believed people all want to die like the want to live .
Freud, wasn’t he the coke freak? I may be mistakeing him with another of that time in history. No matter. An addict is an addict and will do what they want til they die or get killed.
No, but then if all the addicts were dead, then there would be no addicts!
Ah, I don’t see the problem here.
Kids don’t read the papers or watch the news , perhaps we should text them !
All this talk about someone being responsible, 33 years old and doing bath salts , in my mind HE is responsible. end of story
Yes he is responsible, but that doesn’t make it any less tragic. My thought is what led a young man of 33 to think so little of himself …(along with all the other people, involved with this deadly drug, particularly the young), to have such low self esteem he craves escape and maybe death that badly, while putting others in harms way. My prayers are with you Shawn and anyone else who struggles with this addiction, I pray for your recovery. As far as bath salts….I hope that those who read this will make the decision to stay far away from this deadly drug, and that this dangerous trend will come to an end.
If you set SOMEONE on fire isn’t that attempted murder?
One would think so.
Exactly, covering yourself and another occupant of a vehicle with fluid and lighting it really doesn’t sound like innocent fun
Some dummies never learn. They are usually the school grounds bullies as well.
________________________________
From: Disqus
To: frostylobomerlin@yahoo.com
Sent: Monday, January 16, 2012 9:12 AM
Subject: [bdn] Re: Lee man on bath salts arrested after setting girlfriend’s car on fire
Disqus generic email template
houltonborn wrote, in response to frostylobomerlin:
Exactly, covering yourself and another occupant of a vehicle with fluid and lighting it really doesn’t sound like innocent fun Link to comment
Bath Salts Daily Fix satisfied.
http://vitals.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/15/10159359-woman-loses-arm-to-flesh-eating-bacteria-from-bath-salts
A New Orleans woman’s experiment with the illicit drugs dubbed “bath salts” cost her her arm — and nearly her life — after she was ravaged by flesh-eating bacteria that invaded an injection site. *more at the link, it’s kind if gross.
Happens more often than people see with Herion and other drugs and dirty injection sites.
Sounds like Birtz got Blitzed.