By Lee Burnett
The Sanford Police Department is still weighing whether to bring charges in a street fight that sparked outrage on social media because a posted video showed three boys kicking and punching an older man on his back.
“Clearly, we had an assault, but that video didn’t capture the whole event,” said Deputy Chief Matthew Gagne. “We had a chain reaction of events.”
No one was seriously hurt in the June 26 incidents. The man on his back, a motorist who had gotten out of his vehicle to confront the youths, sustained scrapes but was not hospitalized, according to Gagne. Assault charges are being considered against all participants, but whether charges are brought will depend on whether participants are willing to cooperate, he said. Any unwanted physical contact can be grounds for assault, he said.
“Do they want to fill out witness statements, do they want to go to court?” he asked. That is still being determined. The York County District Attorney’s Office has not been asked to screen the case, but may be consulted, he said.
The altercation began when youths on bikes coasted through a stop sign on a side street and onto Oscar Emery Drive, forcing a motorist to slam on his brakes, according to Gagne. The man got out of his car and confronted the youths. At one point, he allegedly grabbed one of the boys by the arm. At another point, he commandeered a bike and tossed it in the pond. The video was shot subsequent to those events, he said.
Hundreds of comments have been posted on multiple community Facebook groups as well as on The Maine Wire, a rabble-rousing site. Some posters allege the same youth were responsible for beating up various unhoused individuals; others allege that charges have not been brought because of family favoritism in the Sanford Police Department. Neither of those rumors is true, according to Gagne.
What is true is that police have seen an increasing number of idle youth roaming around town, often congregating in parks and accosting passersby. “We’ve seen an uptick since school has ended,” Gagne said. Department officials met earlier this week to consider a response. “We don’t want citizens feeling terrorized by anyone, roving groups of kids or anyone.”
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