A Wiscasset man who led deputies and firefighters on a chase into the frigid waters of Back River Dec. 14, 2014, is free after 23 days in jail.
The district attorney’s office dismissed four of five charges against Daniel Colby Jr., 32, of Wiscasset, Jan. 8, according to court documents. The office also agreed to a plea deal that did not punish Colby beyond the 23 days he had already spent in jail since the chase.
Three of the five charges against Colby stemmed from an August incident in Wiscasset. According to Colby’s attorney, William Avantaggio, there was not enough evidence to support those charges.
The Wiscasset Police Department received a report Aug. 20 that Colby had allegedly poisoned a family member’s food, according to an affidavit by Wiscasset Police Chief Troy Cline.
According to the affidavit, family members reported that Colby had a pattern of verbally and emotionally abusing the family member.
Cline and Sgt. Kathy Williams attempted to serve Colby with a cease harassment and cease trespass order Aug. 20, but Colby allegedly fled from them, according to the affidavit.
The next day, while looking for Colby, police found 25 marijuana plants in a location Colby was known to inhabit, according to the affidavit.
Colby was charged with domestic violence stalking, a class D misdemeanor; marijuana cultivation, a class D misdemeanor; and refusing to submit to arrest, a class E misdemeanor.
A warrant for his arrest was issued Aug. 27. Colby evaded law enforcement for approximately 3 1/2 months until Dec. 14.
On Dec. 14, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a man, later identified as Colby, acting strangely on Westport Island.
According to The Lincoln County News report, Colby led personnel from the Wiscasset Police Department, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, Westport Island Fire Department, and a Kennebec County K-9 unit on a four-hour manhunt that ended in the Back River.
Colby entered the river and attempted to swim away from law enforcement. He was apprehended only after a sheriff’s deputy pepper-sprayed him to get him into the fire department’s rescue boat.
(See “Manhunt on Westport Island leads to arrest of Wiscasset man” in the Dec. 18, 2015 edition.)
Colby was charged with refuse to submit to arrest or detention, bodily injury, a class D misdemeanor; and refuse to submit to arrest or detention, refuse to stop, a class E misdemeanor; as a result of the Dec. 14 incident.
Colby was held at Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset in lieu of $2,000 cash bail or $40,000 surety.
He pleaded guilty to the charge of refuse to submit to arrest or detention, bodily injury, during a hearing Jan. 8, according to court documents. The charges from the August incident and the second charge from the December incident were dismissed.
Avantaggio said he was able to reach a plea deal with Assistant District Attorney Andrew Wright quickly based on the strength of the charges, which Avantaggio argued were aggressive.
Avantaggio said the two charges of refuse to submit to arrest or detention from the December incident were a duplication and his client should not have been charged twice for a single incident.
Multiple efforts were made to contact Wright for comment, but no response was received by press time.
A class D misdemeanor is punishable by up to 364 days in jail and a fine of $2,000. Colby was sentenced to 23 days with credit for time served and fined $20. He was released from Two Bridges Regional Jail the same day.
