MADAWASKA, Maine — Two men caught on a security camera stealing a rubber chicken from a school will donate $1,000 to the Madawaska Middle High School instead of facing charges in court.
In July, one of the school custodians found a bite taken out of his apple and confronted his coworker about the deed. Paul Chasse, director of school facilities, safety, operations and maintenance, found the two bickering and said he would help them solve the issue by looking back through security camera footage.
While reviewing the footage, Chasse saw that two men had apparently broken into the Madawaska Middle High School, and took only one item — a rubber chicken.
“We had two rambunctious gentlemen who decided to take a stroll through our building,” said Benjamin Sirois, superintendent for Madawaska School Department and Valley Unified Education Service Center.
Madawaska Police department contacted Benjamin Williams, 21, of Old Town and Bronson Phillips, 22, of Glenburn, who were the men identified in the recorded footage.
Police said Phillips is a truck driver and was waiting for a load of paper to haul when the two decided to go for a walk and ended up inside the school. Police also said that both men were cooperative and “showed remorse.”
The men’s lawyer Jefferson Ashby of Presque Isle contacted the Madawaska School Department to say that Williams and Phillips wished to send money directly to the school rather than pay a fine to the state. The school was notified of the decision to donate on Oct. 7, the same day both of the men’s cases were dismissed.
The fine the state was suggesting was actually less than what the men agreed to donate to the school, according to Ashby.
“Our district attorney was very proactive and got involved in the discussion and resolution because he does think creatively and thought that this was a better alternative,” Ashyby said Tuesday. “I would really like to applaud and give credit to our district attorney’s office because they think deeply about things like this. That office really thinks about appropriate resolutions of cases.”
There will be two $500 donations and the money is planned to be used toward the school’s public access channel WOWL, and student safety.
And what happened to the rubber chicken? It was returned and it is safely tucked away in the school custodian’s office.