MADAWASKA, Maine — Local police arrested a South Carolina man on a fugitive from justice charge Monday, following a tip from that state’s Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office.
Madawaska Police Chief Carroll Theriault and Sgt. Ross Dubois arrested Leland Cantrell, 33, without incidence at his place of employment shortly before lunch. The chief did not want to name the employer, who was not aware of Cantrell’s status as a fugitive
“We were familiar with him,” Theriault said Tuesday, adding that Cantrell had been arrested by Madawaska police in 2014 and charged with domestic violence assault.
The chief said Cantrell likely had been living in an apartment at 94 13th Ave. in Madawaska since shortly after fleeing South Carolina in 2014.
Cantrell had three outstanding warrants from Spartanburg related to 2014 charges of manufacturing and distributing meth, according to Theriault.
The Madawaska police department was contacted by the Spartanburg sheriff’s office late Monday morning.
“They asked if we could pick him up,” said Theriault.
Local police cannot arrest a person on out-of-state charges, but Maine does have a statute that allows municipal law enforcement to arrest a person as a fugitive from justice, the chief said.
Cantrell is scheduled to make his first court appearance on the fugitive charge on March 3 in Madawaska unless he is extradited before then, according to Theriault.
“If he goes back to South Carolina before that, it will be up to the [Aroostook County District Attorney] to review that charge,” said Theriault.
The extradition limits on Cantrell’s warrants were 1,500 miles, according to Theriault. The distance from Spartanburg to Madawaska is 1,376 miles.
“He would have had to go a little farther north,” to escape extradition, Theriault said.
Cantrell was transported Monday by Madawaska police to a holding facility at the Caribou Police Department. From there he was transferred to the Aroostook County Jail in Houlton.