BIDDEFORD, Maine — A Saint Patrick’s Day altercation between a Biddeford barber shop manager and an off-duty Westbrook police officer ended with a gun drawn and a broken window.
Brian McMahon was waiting for his girlfriend outside Headlines Barber Shop, where he’s a manager. “It was a clearly honest mistake. I was waiting for a friend. I was sort of arguing with a friend of mine over here on the phone,” McMahon said.
When a SUV pulled up, he tried to open the passenger door thinking she was inside. But it was the wrong car.
“I went ‘oh ‘scuse me man, I’m sorry, whoa! You got a gun, take it easy,’” McMahon said.
Two men got out. McMahon later learned one of them was an off-duty police officer. “I do know. I told him ‘what are you gonna do shoot me? Are you stupid? Are you crazy? Are you really gonna shoot me over this?’” McMahon said.
As things escalated McMahon, says the officer pushed him through the shop window.
Westbrook police Sgt. John Desjardin spoke with CBS 13 over the phone Friday. He said he was off-duty and in his personal car with his wife and his friend Tuesday night.
Desjardin admits he pulled his weapon and pushed McMahon but only in self-defense because McMahon was acting aggressively.
In a statement, Desjardins said: “His actions forced me to take steps to protect myself, my wife and my friend. I am confident that any reasonable person would have done the same thing if they found themselves in my situation.”
The Biddeford Police Department is investigating. McMahon says he hopes surveillance video may help. “I’m trying to get the cameras from City Hall which is up on the roof up there which will hopefully show this whole thing,” McMahon said.
Desjardin came to the Biddeford Police Department directly after the incident. He gave both a written and a verbal statement.
He said he is fully cooperating with the police investigation and is confident everyone involved in this will be treated fairly.