LINCOLN, Maine — A local man was arrested Sunday after allegedly tossing firecrackers and smoke bombs out the window of his Main Street apartment, police said Monday.
Michael Morrison, 36, of Lincoln was arrested on a charge of reckless conduct, a Class D crime. He also was issued several summonses after Lincoln police and state fire marshal’s office investigators conducted a court-approved search of his apartment at 39 Main St. at about 9:30 p.m. Sunday. They found several fireworks and debris from fireworks, police said.
Police summoned Morrison on charges of disorderly conduct and failure to sign a summons. They also ticketed him for a civil violation, use of fireworks after hours, for prior incidents, said Dan Summers, Lincoln’s public safety director.
The investigation began when police received complaints of Morrison throwing firecrackers out his window at about 3:30 p.m. Sunday. Morrison, Summers said, has several neighbors who have complained several times over the last three weeks of the noise from the explosions, but police efforts to curtail this activity were thwarted by his failure to answer the door when officers visited.
Officers were particularly concerned about the noise and smoke affecting a neighbor whose breathing is aided by an oxygen tank, Summers said. When Sunday’s complaint came in, police summoned fire marshal’s office investigators — they feared that he might have other incendiaries in his apartment — and applied for a search warrant.
Reckless conduct is defined as the creation of “a substantial risk of serious bodily injury to another person.” Class D crimes carry up to 364 days incarceration and a $2,000 fine. Under state civil law, consumer fireworks may be used between 9 a.m. and 10 p.m., except on July 4, Dec. 31 and the weekends immediately before and after those dates.
Morrison was taken to Penobscot County Jail and released on his own recognizance, a jail supervisor said. Conditions of his release include that he or his apartment can be searched at any time and that he must not possess fireworks or consume or possess alcohol, Summers said.
Morrison is due in Lincoln District Court on June 7, the jail supervisor said.