HOLDEN, Maine — A man who caused a disturbance at a Holden trailer park Sunday was arrested on a warrant issued in 1989, according to officials.
The warrant was the oldest one the officer Chris Greeley of the Holden Police Department has dealt with in his two-decade-long career, he said Sunday.
Arnold L. Thompson, 43, most recently of Bangor, was arrested for failure to appear on a theft charge, according to Greeley.
At 4:38 p.m. Sunday, police were called to the Cedar Haven trailer park in Holden for a situation where a person wanted another person removed from the residence, according to the officer.
When Greeley responded and ran the name of the man who caused the disturbance, the 23-year-old warrant popped up.
Thompson told police he had been arrested in Florida, where he lived for at least 15 years, but Greeley said that because of the nature of the warrant it’s likely Maine was unwilling to pay the cost to have him extradited.
“That’s actually fairly common,” Greeley said, that “the state that wants him is not willing to come get him.”
“It costs the state money” in the form of plane tickets, hotels and overtime for officers, Greeley said. “They have to send the police down there to get him or her.”
Warrants are stored in a central database and never fall off, according to Greeley.
“Having warrants that are really, really old is not so unusual, but finding and arresting them is unusual,” Greeley said.
6 month’s probation (which he probably won’t adhere to).
Buy him a ticket to Florida.
Florida doesn’t want him for anything, at least that we know of.
it does happen. surprised with the computer age the dont update the system. even in maine. all the courts should be able to connect to each other for outstandng warrants in the state of maine
what did he do in florida
He did nothing in Florida. He was in Florida when the warrant popped up, and Maine chose not to bring him back to face charges. His foolish move was moving back to Maine on his own, knowing he had the warrant out on him.
oh it is a moment of bad behaviour to bring attention to the cops that brings the warrant out does it every time
Right. Had the cops not been called on him for another reason, they never would have known he had a warrant out! A foolish move on his part.
How was he allowed to get a license, register a car, get a hunting or fishing license all these years with a warrant? Why isn’t it, at the very least, attached to his license? So when he went to a DMV to get his license renewed or his state id renewed it should have come up and the local police notified immediately. They could make an excuse to keep him there for 5 mins (heck most people are there waiting for hours) while to police are automatically dispatched to the DMV to pick him up? There has to be a better way to track people with warrants!
Just like in Mother Russia
the warrant is already attached to his license. The police always ask for a 10-27 and 10-28 when they pull people over, checking their driving record and if there are any warrants out on them. So why don’t the warrants come up when they renew their license? Call it what you want but 23 years is a long time for a warrant to be out on someone!
No statue of limitations on warrants????
he w ill definitely get the charges drops statue of limitation
don’t count on it. He was already charged when he ran. The warrant was issued because of failure to appear in court for the hearing. The charges will stand.
No statues in Holden.
There are statutes of limitations on theft charges someone better advise Greeley & Holden PD of the law.
Lucky him the warrant was for theft not for pot so no extradition to Maine.
loooooser he will get carma
this officer Greeley’s name comes up quite often in the crime busting business. Seems to be quite the dynamo in the world of law enforcement. Hope he gets an award for all his efforts in keeping us safe and sound.
He da Man!
HoHumm…. and another one bites the dust
Maine law re statutes of limitation:
Tit. 17-A §8Murder, 1st or 2nd degree criminal homicide, incest, rape, or gross sexual assault if victim is under 16 yrs. of age: none; Class A, B, C crime: 6 yrs.; Class D, E crime: 3 yrs.; if breach of fiduciary obligation: 1 yr., max. extension: 5 yrs.; official misconduct: 2 yrs., max. extension: 5 yrs.
The statute of limitations applies from the time of the reported crime up to the point that the person is charged. If the warrant was issued for failing to appear for the charge, then the limitations do not apply. Read the entire statute.
This man needs psychitric help and the “The person” who called for help plainly told the officer that.He is not wanted in Florida. He did not run from the law there.This situation is not one of a hardened criminal. But a sad fact of live is that all that happened is that he went to to jail,and the sensationalizing of an old mistake made by a young hurting man who needed help( and stills does at 43.)Whatever happened,this is not that news worthy and to calling him a loser is pure meanness.What is news worthy is that no mention was made that psychiatric help was asked for and obviously is not going to be given,So another Human Being ,not a dangerous loser,slips through the cracks of a society that should care.So lets hope he gets help that he needs and let God be the judge.By the way it’s spelled Karma and Good Karma means,I believe ,peacefull feelings and good actions,So this concerned ” Person” is asking once again,please have this man evaluated by a professional while he is injail,so he can get help. If there is Anyone out there that knows how to arrange that please post comment .Officer Greely is a good Police Officer and a good job,but he can only follow the letter of the law and this situation needs psychiatric intervention please.