Authorities with the Office of State Fire Marshal arrested an Augusta man on Wednesday, Sept. 24 in connection with a potentially explosive device recovered in during a traffic stop in Newcastle earlier in the week.
Nicholas Presby, 43, was arrested without incident at approximately 11:40 a.m. Sept. 24 on Wiscasset Road in Pittston, according to a press release from Maine Department of Public Safety spokesperson Shannon Moss. Presby faces one count of Class C criminal use of explosives.
The investigation and Presby’s subsequent arrest stem from a traffic stop deputies from Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office conducted shortly after midnight on Monday, Sept. 22 on Main Street in Newcastle. Presby was an occupant in the vehicle, according to the press release.
Citing the sensitive nature of the investigation, state and county investigators initially withheld the name of the driver of the vehicle, a 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan.
On Friday, Sept. 26, LCSO identified the operator as Keith A. Childs, 56, of Whitefield. Childs was arrested on warrants for refusing to submit to arrest or detention and refusing to stop and driving to endanger.
After Childs was arrested and transported to Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset, deputies discovered material that “appeared to resemble an explosive device” in the vehicle, according to a previous press release from Moss.
The Newcastle Fire Department closed Main Street from the Damariscotta-Newcastle bridge to its intersection with River Road for about three hours beginning shortly before 3 a.m. Sept. 22 until the device was secured and removed from the scene.
The Maine State Police Tactical Team assisted the fire marshal’s office in executing the search warrant the morning of Sept. 24, given the “high-risk nature of the situation,” according to the press release.
While the warrant was being executed, the Pittston-Randolph Consolidated School, out of an abundance of caution, went into a temporary lockdown. Deputies from the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office and state fire marshal investigators remained at the school during the operation, according to the press release.
The fire marshal’s office requested the assistance of the Maine State Police Bomb Team in executing a search warrant of the residence at 158 Wiscasset Road, the address at which Presby was arrested but does not reside, according to the press release.
The previous evening, Tuesday, Sept. 23, Whitefield responders were called to a scene near Vigue Road supporting Maine State Police and Maine State Bomb Team as state investigators checked a location as part of the Newcastle investigation.
According to Whitfield Fire Chief Jesse Barton, Whitefield Emergency Medical Services and Delta Ambulance both responded to the scene shortly after 10 p.m. and remained on standby until they were cleared at 1:10 a.m.
The Office of State Fire Marshal is being assisted in the investigation by the Maine State Police Tactical Team, Maine State Police Bomb Team, Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office, Gardiner Fire & Rescue, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, FBI, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
Officials are confident there is no current threat to the public, according to the press release.
