BANGOR, Maine — A resident of a multiunit Hammond Street apartment building called police last week to report a man apparently passed out in the common entryway, Bangor police Sgt. Paul Edwards said Tuesday.
Police found Michael Ireland, 47, who is listed as a transient, around 8:15 p.m. Jan. 9 asleep in the entryway, the sergeant said.
“They told him several times that he had to leave,” Edwards said, but he refused. Ireland was arrested after yelling at police and threatening them with bodily harm, the sergeant added.
Ireland was charged with criminal trespass, disorderly conduct and obstructing government administration.
He was taken to the Penobscot County Jail and later released with bail conditions prohibiting him from consuming alcohol or drugs, Edwards said.
Brewer police arrested Ireland again at around 11 a.m. Friday, Jan. 13, for violating his bail conditions after he was found with alcohol on his breath during a noise complaint at a Wilson Street motel, Edwards said.
In July 2009 Ireland was convicted of assault and sentenced to 14 days in jail and a $300 fine, according to Bangor Daily News archives. (Nok-Noi Ricker, BDN)
I can’t imagine how horrible it would be to be homeless in this severe cold – yet, why can’t he stay at one of the homeless shelters? Out of room? Drinking, drugs, violence? Maybe we need a new shelter that incorporates a work program into it, requiring attending treatment programs, rather than just a place to sleep.
Please, spare me. The guy is a career criminal. His record goes back a lot further than the story leads you to believe. He has a history of theft and voilence going back more than 30 years. He should have been locked up and the key thrown away 25 years ago.
Perhaps in this case you are right. I am definitely on the side of locking up violent people who commit assault. That said, treatment and a place to stay like The Guardian suggests would cost the state less than prison for those who are not violent. So many people, maybe not you hardday, advocate abandoning the indigent because it costs so much to help them. What they fail to grasp is that one way or another society must pay for the care of these unfortunates. Healthcare costs are a great example of this.
*thumbs up
Many homeless people have burnt their bridges with their families and choose to live the way they do. They have chosen to live this life style. Yes, there are people who are homeless (I was at one time) due to sudden unemployment or financial issues. But once you get a taste of homelessness you quickly get yourself together and move on. Some homeless people prefer not to go to shelters because even shelters have rules and they will not adhere to rules.
Around and around and around we go.
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Glad to see the ocCUpy movement is still alive.
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well he’ll have a warm place to sleep for awhile shelter won’t take him cuz he’s an alcaholic and won’t follow their rules
True, but it doesn’t take very long of sleeping with one eye open (worrying about some other transient whacking you over the head and stealing what little you have) to make you not want to be around anyone or trust anyone enough to take them up on any offer to help.
So, I suppose in a way they have chosen to live that way, but on the other hand, people like this one are so burnt to a crisp that there is little left by way of gray matter upstairs to even stop and think about it.
“Choice” becomes survival.
Be that as it may, as harddaysnight said, this guy is a career criminal – big difference from someone who’s a little down on his luck.
For every trancient /homeless person there is a diffrent story of how they came to be that way. Some just a bum rap from day one to deliberate choice. It is far cheaper to have professionals to weed them out and get them the right help than a one size fits all stay at the jail where they may develop serious and expensive medical problems or become worse and more violent toward the general public.
There are people who just don’t follow the law and rules, He is one, did a bunch of jail time and it is a good place for him!