Smith Bangor
A4 Thursday, July 28, 2016, Bangor Daily News
Smith Continued from Page A1 on Route 189 near School Street in Lubec, and involved Deborah Haskins, formerly known as Bousquet, 42, of Trescott, whom Smith had accused of assaulting him during an incident in October 2014 on a school bus when he was still sheriff. The assault charge was dismissed later, but Haskins did threaten to file a lawsuit against Smith in Washington County Superior Court alleging false arrest. Smith was driving his red Toyota pickup truck on Route 189 when he slammed on his brakes, nearly causing her vehicle to rear-end his, Haskins,
a teacher, testified Wednesday. Two other vehicles behind the woman also nearly got in a chain-reaction collision, but none of the vehicles ended up striking each other, she said. Smith testified that he stopped suddenly to avoid hitting a cat. He said he did not know who was driving the SUV behind him but believed it was following him too closely. He said the driver honked her horn at him and made an obscene gesture at him with both hands. Haskins told the jury that she did not know who was driving the truck but thought it might “be some girl with an issue with me.” The teacher said she was angry about the near collision and made an obscene gesture to the driver of the truck but did not let go
of her steering wheel. Under cross-examination, she denied honking her horn at the red truck. The vehicles resumed traveling along the road and, when Haskins went to turn into the entrance of the local elementary school, Smith stopped a second time, blocking the entrance to School Street, she testified. This time, Smith got out of his vehicle and “ran over” to her car, Haskins testified. She said he shouted at her and called her an obscene name, repeatedly telling her, “You need to back off.” He also grabbed the door handle and tried to open it, but she was able to lock it before he could, Haskins testified. Smith told the jury that he was distracted by the driver
behind him and went up on the curb at School Street. He said he got out of his truck “to see what the problem was.” Smith said he walked but did not run to the driver’s side of her car, when he recognized her. “She said she didn’t know it was me but thought it was a woman she was having issues with,” he said. “She apologized several times.” Smith testified that he called to report the incident because the assault charge was still pending at the time and because he thought she was following him too closely. Haskins admitted that she did not call 911 until the following day when she called police from the office of her attorney, Jeffrey Davidson of Machias. Former Washington County Deputy Sheriff Timothy
Bangor Continued from Page A1 financing guarantees and detailed construction plans and timetables; improve the building’s facade; resolve issues with the sprinkler system; remediate mold issues; and renovate the first floor into commercial space. Once those terms are met, the city will hand the keys back to Boyd. Before his lien matured, Boyd drew up a lease last fall with Bar Harbor resident Jeshua Serdynski and Ragnarok Coffee Society, a proposed roastery and coffeehouse. It is unknown whether Serdynski attained the necessary funding for his business after a failed Kickstarter campaign in November or if the lease remains valid after the change of ownership and ensuing negotiations, though Serdynski has said on his Facebook page he plans to move forward. Regardless whether Boyd holds up his end of the bargain and regains ownership or the city ends up retaining the title, something almost certainly is going to happen with 73 Central in the coming months and/or years. On Tuesday, I (Emily Burnham), reporter Nick McCrea and visual journalist Micky Bedell got an informal tour of 73 Central from top to bottom — from a creepy basement to the stunning 360-degree view of downtown Bangor from the roof. It’s been reported the building has six floors, but that’s a bit of a misnomer. There’s a basement and the ground floor, then there’s a second floor that’s essentially two floors, a little more
The fourth floor of 73 Central St. in Bangor on Tuesday. than half of which is occupied by a mezzanine and balcony that technically could constitute a third floor. Beyond that, there’s a fourth floor and fifth floor, though there’s also an open space beneath the fourth floor but above the third floor that doesn’t appear to be any sort of usable space at all; it’s sort of a half-floor. There’s also an open space in the floor between the fourth and fifth floors, allowing you to look down from the fifth floor onto the fourth. The story goes that the fourth and fifth floors were added to the building at some point in the 1980s and were supposed to house a fitness center, though it appears work ceased abruptly on the construction, as most of it looks unfinished. The stories of there being an indoor track also appear to be made up — if the fifth floor is supposed to be an indoor track, then it’s an incredibly tiny track that one would
have to run around 30 or 40 times to equal a mile. Truth be told, the building is in extremely rough shape. Most of the walls have no drywall. There’s mold everywhere — there’s actually moss growing on the floor in one of the streetlevel office spaces. The elevator is broken. Windows are left open to the elements. The floors are bare concrete — and so on. If anyone actually wanted to redevelop the whole building, they’d need a lot of money. Like, a lot of money. Nevertheless, the bones of the building appear to be extremely strong. The lower
Get Creative
Reprints of BDN photos. store.bangordailynews.com
MICKY BEDELL | BDN
floors seem to need less work than the upper floors, and the enormous second floor with the balcony is particularly striking, with big windows overlooking Central Street and a neat bird’s-eye view of the second floor from the mezzanine. The exposed steel beams on the top two floors clearly are made of strong stuff. With the right investor and vision, the potential contained within could be transformative for downtown Bangor.
Carter testified that he took statements from Smith, Haskins and witness Larry Dinsmore of Lubec but did not issue any summonses. The charges against Smith were filed Jan. 29, more than three weeks after the incident. Carter now works for the Police Department in Gulfport, Florida. Smith is not the first former Washington County sheriff to face charges. Joseph Tibbetts, 68, of Columbia pleaded guilty in May 2010 to a charge of threatening display of a dangerous weapon, after originally being charged with criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, a felony. He was ordered a year later to pay a $250 fine, perform 120 hours of community service and forfeit a single firearm.
Tibbetts maintained that he stopped a vehicle he believed contained people who were stealing blueberries while he worked a security detail in Columbia in August 2009. The couple and their children in the car, however, said they were out looking for coyotes and were terrorized by Tibbetts. If convicted, Smith would have faced up to a year in prison and a fine of up to $2,000 on the reckless conduct charge. He faced up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000 on the driving to endanger charge. Smith now lives much of the year in Florida, Brown said.
Big questions remain for the iconic building. What will go in there? The building has, in the past, held everything from Democratic election headquarters to a temporary exhibit by the Bangor Historical Society. Will it be Serdynski’s business? Will it be another restaurant or food-centric business, to add to the now more than 30 different restaurants, cafes and food trucks in downtown? Or will it be
retail? An arts space, for which there’s a precedent in the building? A museum? The possibilities are vast. What do you want to see in 73 Central? What’s your transformative idea for downtown Bangor? There’s room for more than one business or other venture, so take a look at our photos and start dreaming. Anything is possible. Maybe not probable, sure, but possible — yes.
BDN writer Bill Trotter contributed to this report.
Smith Continued from Page A1 on Route 189 near School Street in Lubec, and involved Deborah Haskins, formerly known as Bousquet, 42, of Trescott, whom Smith had accused of assaulting him during an incident in October 2014 on a school bus when he was still sheriff. The assault charge was dismissed later, but Haskins did threaten to file a lawsuit against Smith in Washington County Superior Court alleging false arrest. Smith was driving his red Toyota pickup truck on Route 189 when he slammed on his brakes, nearly causing her vehicle to rear-end his, Haskins,
a teacher, testified Wednesday. Two other vehicles behind the woman also nearly got in a chain-reaction collision, but none of the vehicles ended up striking each other, she said. Smith testified that he stopped suddenly to avoid hitting a cat. He said he did not know who was driving the SUV behind him but believed it was following him too closely. He said the driver honked her horn at him and made an obscene gesture at him with both hands. Haskins told the jury that she did not know who was driving the truck but thought it might “be some girl with an issue with me.” The teacher said she was angry about the near collision and made an obscene gesture to the driver of the truck but did not let go
of her steering wheel. Under cross-examination, she denied honking her horn at the red truck. The vehicles resumed traveling along the road and, when Haskins went to turn into the entrance of the local elementary school, Smith stopped a second time, blocking the entrance to School Street, she testified. This time, Smith got out of his vehicle and “ran over” to her car, Haskins testified. She said he shouted at her and called her an obscene name, repeatedly telling her, “You need to back off.” He also grabbed the door handle and tried to open it, but she was able to lock it before he could, Haskins testified. Smith told the jury that he was distracted by the driver
behind him and went up on the curb at School Street. He said he got out of his truck “to see what the problem was.” Smith said he walked but did not run to the driver’s side of her car, when he recognized her. “She said she didn’t know it was me but thought it was a woman she was having issues with,” he said. “She apologized several times.” Smith testified that he called to report the incident because the assault charge was still pending at the time and because he thought she was following him too closely. Haskins admitted that she did not call 911 until the following day when she called police from the office of her attorney, Jeffrey Davidson of Machias. Former Washington County Deputy Sheriff Timothy
Bangor Continued from Page A1 financing guarantees and detailed construction plans and timetables; improve the building’s facade; resolve issues with the sprinkler system; remediate mold issues; and renovate the first floor into commercial space. Once those terms are met, the city will hand the keys back to Boyd. Before his lien matured, Boyd drew up a lease last fall with Bar Harbor resident Jeshua Serdynski and Ragnarok Coffee Society, a proposed roastery and coffeehouse. It is unknown whether Serdynski attained the necessary funding for his business after a failed Kickstarter campaign in November or if the lease remains valid after the change of ownership and ensuing negotiations, though Serdynski has said on his Facebook page he plans to move forward. Regardless whether Boyd holds up his end of the bargain and regains ownership or the city ends up retaining the title, something almost certainly is going to happen with 73 Central in the coming months and/or years. On Tuesday, I (Emily Burnham), reporter Nick McCrea and visual journalist Micky Bedell got an informal tour of 73 Central from top to bottom — from a creepy basement to the stunning 360-degree view of downtown Bangor from the roof. It’s been reported the building has six floors, but that’s a bit of a misnomer. There’s a basement and the ground floor, then there’s a second floor that’s essentially two floors, a little more
The fourth floor of 73 Central St. in Bangor on Tuesday. than half of which is occupied by a mezzanine and balcony that technically could constitute a third floor. Beyond that, there’s a fourth floor and fifth floor, though there’s also an open space beneath the fourth floor but above the third floor that doesn’t appear to be any sort of usable space at all; it’s sort of a half-floor. There’s also an open space in the floor between the fourth and fifth floors, allowing you to look down from the fifth floor onto the fourth. The story goes that the fourth and fifth floors were added to the building at some point in the 1980s and were supposed to house a fitness center, though it appears work ceased abruptly on the construction, as most of it looks unfinished. The stories of there being an indoor track also appear to be made up — if the fifth floor is supposed to be an indoor track, then it’s an incredibly tiny track that one would
have to run around 30 or 40 times to equal a mile. Truth be told, the building is in extremely rough shape. Most of the walls have no drywall. There’s mold everywhere — there’s actually moss growing on the floor in one of the streetlevel office spaces. The elevator is broken. Windows are left open to the elements. The floors are bare concrete — and so on. If anyone actually wanted to redevelop the whole building, they’d need a lot of money. Like, a lot of money. Nevertheless, the bones of the building appear to be extremely strong. The lower
Get Creative
Reprints of BDN photos. store.bangordailynews.com
MICKY BEDELL | BDN
floors seem to need less work than the upper floors, and the enormous second floor with the balcony is particularly striking, with big windows overlooking Central Street and a neat bird’s-eye view of the second floor from the mezzanine. The exposed steel beams on the top two floors clearly are made of strong stuff. With the right investor and vision, the potential contained within could be transformative for downtown Bangor.
Carter testified that he took statements from Smith, Haskins and witness Larry Dinsmore of Lubec but did not issue any summonses. The charges against Smith were filed Jan. 29, more than three weeks after the incident. Carter now works for the Police Department in Gulfport, Florida. Smith is not the first former Washington County sheriff to face charges. Joseph Tibbetts, 68, of Columbia pleaded guilty in May 2010 to a charge of threatening display of a dangerous weapon, after originally being charged with criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, a felony. He was ordered a year later to pay a $250 fine, perform 120 hours of community service and forfeit a single firearm.
Tibbetts maintained that he stopped a vehicle he believed contained people who were stealing blueberries while he worked a security detail in Columbia in August 2009. The couple and their children in the car, however, said they were out looking for coyotes and were terrorized by Tibbetts. If convicted, Smith would have faced up to a year in prison and a fine of up to $2,000 on the reckless conduct charge. He faced up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000 on the driving to endanger charge. Smith now lives much of the year in Florida, Brown said.
Big questions remain for the iconic building. What will go in there? The building has, in the past, held everything from Democratic election headquarters to a temporary exhibit by the Bangor Historical Society. Will it be Serdynski’s business? Will it be another restaurant or food-centric business, to add to the now more than 30 different restaurants, cafes and food trucks in downtown? Or will it be
retail? An arts space, for which there’s a precedent in the building? A museum? The possibilities are vast. What do you want to see in 73 Central? What’s your transformative idea for downtown Bangor? There’s room for more than one business or other venture, so take a look at our photos and start dreaming. Anything is possible. Maybe not probable, sure, but possible — yes.
BDN writer Bill Trotter contributed to this report.
