FORT KENT, Maine — A local couple honored last month with the Maine Sheriff’s Association’s Presidential Award for Valor credits their County upbringing for ignoring their own safety and trying to help a woman they believed was under attack.
Justin and Vanessa Hodgkin of Fort Kent intervened last summer in a domestic violence assault they witnessed on State Road in Mapleton.
The Hodgkins, both 19 years old and living in Presque Isle at the time, were traveling through Mapleton on Aug. 18, 2015, when they witnessed a woman who was partially out of the open passenger side door of an approaching SUV.
At first glance, the couple said they thought perhaps the woman was feeling ill.
But then, as the two vehicles drew closer, it became clear to them that the driver was preventing the woman from exiting the SUV, according to Vanessa.
“I could see her feet, and then … I could see that he had hold of her hair,” she said.
Justin noted that the driver “was trying to pull her back in the vehicle.”
After they passed, the couple turned their Ford Fiesta around and began following the SUV, which pulled into a church parking lot. The Hodgkins got out of their vehicle and approached the SUV.
It was then that they both noticed bruises on the woman’s face and body.
“She was crying,” Vanessa said. “I had a conversation with the lady. I was trying to get her out of the vehicle. I said she didn’t have to stay there.”
But their attempts to convince the woman to get out of the SUV were unsuccessful, and the man drove off with her again. So the Hodgkins, who do not own cellphones, drove to Vanessa’s grandmother’s home nearby to call 911.
The couple reported what they witnessed and gave the emergency dispatcher the license plate number, a description of the SUV, and the direction they had last seen the SUV traveling.
Following a multi-agency search, the SUV was located and the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office charged the driver with domestic violence assault and criminal restraint.
“I am very disappointed [even disgusted] to report that the defendant received a deferred disposition because the victim was unwilling to cooperate with prosecution of the case,” Sheriff Darrell Crandall said. “I really feel that the Hodgkins did more for the victim than did the criminal justice system.”
Justin attributes the couple’s efforts to help the woman with values they learned growing up in the towns of Fort Kent and Masardis.
“We had really good people to follow, especially being in a small community like this. You learn some good values,” he said. “I know a lot of my instructors and teachers along the way were really good role models, too.”
The couple will celebrate their first wedding anniversary in late April, and are expecting their first baby, a boy, in July.
The Hodgkins said it is not surprising that they would have been traveling along State Road in Mapleton on the day they witnessed the assault. The couple often makes a “full loop around Aroostook County,” Justin said, where they visit relatives in Fort Kent, Mapleton, Presque Isle and sometimes Madawaska.
“We’re big about family. We always try to incorporate as much family time as we can.”
For their efforts to help the woman last summer, the Hodgkins were presented with the Maine Sheriffs Association Presidential Award for Valor — Citizen Award during the group’s annual conference and awards banquet on March 24 at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland.
Crandall praised the Hodgkins for their bravery.
“They put themselves in harm’s way to try to protect another human being in peril,” he said. “For that, they are heroes.”
Crandall also stressed the importance of citizens using sound judgment when encountering violent criminal acts.
“I believe it is our collective civic responsibility to work with the police to maintain civil order in our communities. What our communities are collectively willing to tolerate, will continue,” the sheriff said. “I also don’t recommend becoming directly involved in potentially violent incidents unless there is no other option and you are confident in your abilities to do so without making things worse. There is a line people should be very careful about crossing. Being a good witness and promptly reporting is usually the best and safest approach.”
The Hodgkins said they were “shocked” when Crandall notified them of the Maine Sheriffs Association award.
“We were just trying to do what hopefully anyone would do,” Justin said.