AUGUSTA — The blue lights were flashing, but the mo-ped driver kept going.
That’s what Kennebec Sheriff’s Office Deputy Paul G. Stewart said in an affidavit filed in Augusta District Court. Steward said the mo-ped was unregistered, and he wanted to stop it because the operator, 71-year-old Richard Suchar, had three outstanding arrest warrants.
Stewart followed the mo-ped along Route 32 in Vassalboro until it pulled into a driveway last Wednesday. There he attempted to arrest Suchar, and bring him to jail.
“He said he wasn’t going to go,” Stewart’s affidavit says.
After a tussle that brought both men to the ground, Stewart said he got handcuffs on Suchar.
Then Suchar allegedly refused to get up. “You will have to carry me to the cruiser,” he is quoted as saying.
Suchar also told the deputy that his chest hurt. So instead of heading directly to jail, Suchar was taken by Delta Ambulance to MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta.
Afterward, he was brought to the Kennebec County jail, where he was held until an Augusta District Court hearing Friday.
Suchar, who sat in a wheelchair during his arraignment via video from the jail, pleaded not guilty to charges of refusing to submit to arrest and operating after suspension.
A judge set bail at $500 cash, and Suchar was released on Sunday. His trial date in district court is set for Oct. 23.
In the meantime, a condition of probation bans him from operating a motor vehicle unless he is licensed to do so.
The judge set personal recognizance bail on the charges of failure to appear in court on charges of failing to pay restitution, failing to pay a fine on a criminal trespass conviction and failure to appear in court on a charge of operating after suspension.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
badams@centralmaine.com
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