AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine Warden Service pilot who was arrested on Sept. 2 after he allegedly spit at a Bangor police officer during a concert on the Bangor Waterfront has resigned effective immediately.
“The Maine Warden Service has taken appropriate measures within its aviation division to ensure the unit is prepared to respond to all search and rescue, law enforcement and resource management needs,” Cpl. John MacDonald said Monday evening in a news release.
“No further information is available at this time,” MacDonald said.
Charles Later of Shirley, who was the warden service’s chief pilot, was placed on administrative leave in 2012 after his arrest on a domestic violence assault charge.
He was suspended again after his arrest earlier this month.
Later was in Bangor to see country artists Sammy Kershaw and Rowdy Yates perform when he was charged about 8:20 p.m. Sept. 2 with felony assault on a police officer, a Class C crime, Bangor police Sgt. Tim Cotton said earlier.
Later was arrested after he was asked by security personnel to leave the venue and refused, Cotton said.
Later also was charged by Officer Jeremy Caron with three misdemeanors — refusing to submit to arrest, disorderly conduct and criminal trespassing, Cotton said.
Later, who was hired as the warden service’s chief pilot in April 1999, had been arrested in June 2012 on charges of domestic violence assault, obstructing the report of a crime and criminal mischief. Later ended up entering a no contest plea to a lesser charge of disorderly conduct and was fined $500 during an appearance in Piscataquis County Superior Court.
District Attorney R. Christopher Almy said in August 2012 that he had to drop the initial charges because the victim refused to cooperate with his office.
Later returned to work in November 2012 after the warden service completed an internal review into alleged misconduct, MacDonald said at the time.
Col. Joel Wilkinson, Maine Warden Service chief, said earlier this month that Later’s latest arrest would be the subject of an internal investigation by the state agency.
Later, who was taken to Penobscot County Jail in Bangor after his arrest, is free on bail.