Police use yellow flag law to take guns from man on Maine island

The Waldo County Sheriff’s Office used Maine’s yellow flag law to confiscate numerous guns earlier this week from a man who was reportedly suffering a mental health issue on 700 Acre Island near Islesboro. The man was taken into custody on Monday for a medical evaluation after police initially received a report that he had gotten a boat ride to the island and walked off into the woods while possibly carrying a concealed firearm, according to the sheriff’s office. He also reportedly wore a bulletproof vest. Police did not share additional information about what threat the man was suspected to pose to himself or others, which is a necessary condition for police to use the yellow flag law to seize guns. He was cooperative when authorities located him, and he has not been criminally charged. The man was an employee of Pendleton Yacht Yard on Islesboro, and the incident came after he “had a major mental break,” according to owner Gabe Pendleton. The man reportedly posed as a construction worker on Monday morning when he boarded a ferry in Lincolnville that takes contractors to 700 Acre Island, according to Marlin Hansen, an employee at the island’s Dark Harbor Boat Yard who also operates the ferry. Hansen said the man was exhibiting strange behavior on the ride. He and the other workers on the boat also noticed the man was wearing a bulletproof vest and may have been concealing a rifle under his coat, according to Hansen. When the man got off at the island, they headed back to Lincolnville and called the police. There is nobody currently living on 700 Acre Island since all its residents are seasonal, Hansen said. The sheriff’s office, working with the U.S. Coast Guard, eventually located the man on an outboard-powered skiff near the north end of the island. He was not carrying a weapon or wearing a bulletproof vest and cooperated with being taken to a medical facility for evaluation and treatment, police said. According to Hansen, police searched the island for any weapons on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday, Hansen and five of his coworkers took up the search and found an AK-47, some ammo and the bulletproof vest on a property near the water, he said. “We knew the gun had to be somewhere,” Hansen said. The sheriff’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for confirmation of the details about the search. In its press release, the agency said it confiscated “numerous firearms” that belonged to the man, including a gun that “civilians” found on the island. The case has shocked the island communities, especially following the mass shooting in Lewiston last fall. “It’s a very scary incident, and it’s hard to process,” said Pendleton, the owner of the Islesboro boatyard. “This individual worked here for more than a year. This was not something anyone saw coming or thought was a possibility.”