Hunt ends for prison escapee from Old Orchard Beach
By David Harry
Staff Writer
Freedom will remain elusive for an Old Orchard Beach man arrested in Scarborough on charges of escaping from prison.
Clifford Perkins, 26, was arrested Dec. 3 in Scarborough after walking away from the Bolduc Correctional Facility in Warren on Nov. 21, said Maine Department of Corrections Associate Commissioner Denise Lord.
Scarborough Police Sgt. John O’Malley said Perkins was found hiding under a pile of brush and dead tree limbs in woods off Route 22, also known as County Road.
O’Malley said Perkins was arrested during a combined operation staffed by state police troopers and canine teams; a special weapons and tactical team comprised of Scarborough, South Portland and Cape Elizabeth officers and Department of Corrections officers.
An anonymous tip led authorities to woods near Patten Farm and the Crystal Spring trailer park, where Perkins had been living in a tent, Lord said. He surrendered without incident and is now at the Maine State Prison in Warren.
O’Malley said Perkins’ mother lives nearby, but said “there was no strong indication” anyone had helped Perkins elude police.
Police began assembling at around 9:30 a.m. to search for Perkins. It is the third time the new SWAT team of Scarborough, South Portland and Cape Elizabeth officers have responded to a call, O’Malley said.
“We got a huge bunch of guys show up and it went as close to plan as possible,” O’Malley said about the search and arrest operation.
Perkins was a resident of Old Orchard Beach before he was sentenced to prison in Oct. 2006, O’Malley said.
Lord said Perkins had been imprisoned for multiple convictions, including burglary, theft and criminal mischief, and was at the Bolduc Correctional Facility to begin the process of returning to civilian life when his sentence expired in 2011.
“He basically walked away,” Lord said about Perkins’ unarmed escape from prison. She said he now faces a charge of escaping from a correctional facility, although the maximum sentence of five years is unlikely because he was not armed and no one was injured in the escape.
Lt. Walter Grzyb, the commander of the Maine State Police Barracks B in Gray, said troopers had searched other areas of the state for Perkins, including an eight-hour search Nov. 30 in the towns of Baldwin, Cornish and Hiram.
In 2005, Perkins led troopers and deputies from the York County Sheriff’s Office on an early morning chase through Baldwin, Cornish, Parsonsfield and Porter. According to Trooper Adam Fillebrown, Perkins was at the wheel of a stolen car and rammed a police cruiser when cornered on a dead end road in Cornish.
The chase ended when Perkins tried to pass a truck carrying gasoline in Porter and was forced off the road near a church. Already wanted on burglary and reckless conduct charges, Perkins was charged with theft, reckless conduct and drug possession when arrested after the chase.
When Perkins was captured Dec. 3, Fillebrown was one of the troopers working with a canine team, Grzyb said.
Staff writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 219
Staff Writer
Freedom will remain elusive for an Old Orchard Beach man arrested in Scarborough on charges of escaping from prison.
Clifford Perkins, 26, was arrested Dec. 3 in Scarborough after walking away from the Bolduc Correctional Facility in Warren on Nov. 21, said Maine Department of Corrections Associate Commissioner Denise Lord.
Scarborough Police Sgt. John O’Malley said Perkins was found hiding under a pile of brush and dead tree limbs in woods off Route 22, also known as County Road.
O’Malley said Perkins was arrested during a combined operation staffed by state police troopers and canine teams; a special weapons and tactical team comprised of Scarborough, South Portland and Cape Elizabeth officers and Department of Corrections officers.
An anonymous tip led authorities to woods near Patten Farm and the Crystal Spring trailer park, where Perkins had been living in a tent, Lord said. He surrendered without incident and is now at the Maine State Prison in Warren.
O’Malley said Perkins’ mother lives nearby, but said “there was no strong indication” anyone had helped Perkins elude police.
Police began assembling at around 9:30 a.m. to search for Perkins. It is the third time the new SWAT team of Scarborough, South Portland and Cape Elizabeth officers have responded to a call, O’Malley said.
“We got a huge bunch of guys show up and it went as close to plan as possible,” O’Malley said about the search and arrest operation.
Perkins was a resident of Old Orchard Beach before he was sentenced to prison in Oct. 2006, O’Malley said.
Lord said Perkins had been imprisoned for multiple convictions, including burglary, theft and criminal mischief, and was at the Bolduc Correctional Facility to begin the process of returning to civilian life when his sentence expired in 2011.
“He basically walked away,” Lord said about Perkins’ unarmed escape from prison. She said he now faces a charge of escaping from a correctional facility, although the maximum sentence of five years is unlikely because he was not armed and no one was injured in the escape.
Lt. Walter Grzyb, the commander of the Maine State Police Barracks B in Gray, said troopers had searched other areas of the state for Perkins, including an eight-hour search Nov. 30 in the towns of Baldwin, Cornish and Hiram.
In 2005, Perkins led troopers and deputies from the York County Sheriff’s Office on an early morning chase through Baldwin, Cornish, Parsonsfield and Porter. According to Trooper Adam Fillebrown, Perkins was at the wheel of a stolen car and rammed a police cruiser when cornered on a dead end road in Cornish.
The chase ended when Perkins tried to pass a truck carrying gasoline in Porter and was forced off the road near a church. Already wanted on burglary and reckless conduct charges, Perkins was charged with theft, reckless conduct and drug possession when arrested after the chase.
When Perkins was captured Dec. 3, Fillebrown was one of the troopers working with a canine team, Grzyb said.
Staff writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 219
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