MACHIAS, Maine — A Trescott woman who went to the scene of a reported melee on board a stopped school bus last month has been charged with disorderly conduct and obstruction of government administration, according to her attorney.
Deborah Bousquet, 41, has not been charged with assault, despite statements from Sheriff Donnie Smith who said he arrested Bousquet on Oct. 8 after she hit him on the head when he was at the scene trying to “defuse the situation,” defense attorney Jeffrey Davidson said in a prepared statement issued Monday.
The alleged incident occurred after a school bus driver transporting students from Lubec to high schools in East Machias and Machias reported that students were fighting on the bus and then stopped the vehicle at the intersection of routes 189 and 191. Both Smith and Davidson have said since that there was not a fight on the bus and that the driver’s complaint was prompted by a dispute between the driver and one or more students over recorded music that was playing on the bus.
Bousquet, identified in court documents by her former last name of Haskins, had a daughter on the bus and, after getting a call from her daughter, had gone to find the stopped bus. Smith, who lives in Lubec, heard about the report and also responded to the scene.
Bousquet, an elementary school teacher in Lubec, says that Smith incited the situation by yelling at students and placing his hand on his firearm while it was in its holster, according to court documents filed by her attorney.
She has said she never assaulted Smith but that she did yell and swear at him.
Bousquet states that Smith assaulted her during the arrest. She has since notified Smith that she intends to sue him on the grounds that she was falsely arrested and that he used excessive force, among other things. Davidson also is representing Bousquet in the potential civil lawsuit.
Separate attempts on Monday to contact Smith and Paul Cavanaugh, first assistant district attorney for Washington County, were unsuccessful.
Davidson indicated in a prepared statement that Smith’s version of events is “not the truth” and that the sheriff’s “false statements” to the media on the day of the bus incident were politically motivated. He said 20 people, including three law enforcement officers, submitted written witness statements about the incident.
“[My client] is pleased that the District Attorney’s office evaluated all of the witness statements presented and determined that she would not be charged with assault,” Davidson wrote. “However, she is disappointed that any charges have been filed as her actions in using bad language while attempting to protect the children she cares for from an out of control sheriff were not criminal in nature and should not have resulted in an arrest or prosecution.”
The attorney added that Bousquet plans to plead innocent to the disorderly conduct and obstruction of government administration charges when she makes her first court appearance on the charges in Machias on Tuesday, Nov. 4.
