HODGDON, Maine — A Houlton man was charged with filing a false police report after telling police the burns he suffered on his body were inflicted by someone tossing a makeshift bottle rocket into his car.
Police said 21-year-old James Grant instead burned himself mishandling materials used to make methamphetamine.
The incident that led to the charge against Grant occurred Sept. 21, 2014, when a report came in about a local man being seriously injured in an assault that allegedly occurred in Hodgdon, Sheriff Darrell Crandall of the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office in Houlton said Tuesday.
Grant reported to the Houlton Police Department that he was on his way home when he noticed a sport utility vehicle in a field off the White Settlement Road in Hodgdon. He said the vehicle was smoking, so he pulled up to make sure everyone exited safely. As he did so, someone in the vehicle threw a bottle into his vehicle and it exploded, Grant told officers, according to Crandall. Grant suffered second- and third-degree burns over parts of his body.
During the course of the lengthy investigation, Grant identified a suspect from a group of photographs. He said the man he identified was a passenger in the vehicle, though he wasn’t sure whether the suspect or the driver threw the bottle. The suspect, who is in jail on unrelated charges, denied having any involvement. He was given a polygraph examination, which indicated he was being truthful.
The sheriff said when Grant was confronted with the results of the polygraph, Grant admitted he was alone at the time of the September incident and accidentally caused the fire while handling materials used to make methamphetamine. Unfortunately, physical evidence to support a drug offense either was intentionally destroyed or lost in the fire, Crandall said.
Grant was charged with filing a false public alarm or report, a misdemeanor. Additional charges may follow, according to Crandall.
Grant will appear in Houlton District Court on May 19.