WATERVILLE — A man was arrested Monday after he smashed a window at the Fire Department on College Avenue with a pipe, threatened a fire captain who witnessed it and then fled the area.
Daniel Groover, 42, of Union Street, was arrested moments later on nearby Leighton Street downtown and charged with criminal mischief and a probation violation, according to police Sgt. Brian Gardiner.
Gardiner, who with Officer Ryan Dinsmore arrested Groover, said the man was taken to Kennebec County Jail in Augusta and likely will go before a judge sometime this week. No bail was set because he had violated probation, according to Gardiner.
Gardiner said that Groover was ranting about firefighters during Monday’s incident.
“He just made some statements he was angry with the fire department and didn’t like firefighters,” Gardiner said.
Asked if Groover appeared to be intoxicated or on substances, Gardiner said it was hard to tell, but “he wasn’t really acting rational.”
Gardiner said police had dealt with Groover earlier Monday on Union Street and warned him about disorderly conduct.
Fire Captain Rodney Alderman said at the scene just after 4:30 p.m. that he was standing in the parking lot behind the Fire Department off Union Street when he saw the man walk up to the window and start smashing it.
“He went over and started breaking that window and I said, ‘Hey, what are you doing?’ and he was coming right after me, but he backed off,” Alderman recalled. “He threatened me and … then he just chucked the pipe over the fence and walked away.”
When Firefighter Al Nygren saw the man going after Alderman, he grabbed the first thing he saw — a shovel.
“He said he was from the CIA and had a license to kill,” Nygren recalled the attacker saying.
Nygren and Firefighter Ryan Johnston cleaned up the broken glass, which had shattered in the parking lot.
Alderman estimated the damage was about $100.
Amy Calder — 861-9247
Twitter: @AmyCalder17
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