Landeen Arrested

On 08/30/2010 at or about 1847 hrs the Washington County Sheriffs Office received a report of a female subject intoxicated and firing a handgun in her residence on the Hadley Lake Road in East Machias. The reporting parties stated that she also made threats that she was going to kill everyone.

The Sheriff’s Office was first on scene and soon was assisted by the Maine State Police, Maine Warden Service and Machias Police. The female subject was believed to be barricaded in her home with several weapons. Several neighbors were evacuated from their homes for their safety. Several calls were made to the residence by the Washington County Communication Center and the dispatcher on duty spoke with her but she hung up the phone and disabled it. .

A member of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office started a dialog with the female subject by public address for several minutes at which time she decided to surrender without incident. The suspect was identified as Louisa Landeen 41 of East Machias, who was extremely intoxicated. K9 handler Warden Alan Curtis and his partner (Cruizer) who is specifically trained in locating gun powder residue/gun recently fired was used on scene and the gun on scene was recovered. Evidence was recovered at the scene by Deputy Dennis Dorsey who is a member of the evidence response team (ERT). Landeen was arrested for reckless conduct and is cooperating with authorities. Landeen was transported to the Washington County Jail without incident and bail was set at $1,000 cash.


Sheriff Donnie Smith

Washington County Sheriff’s Office Awarded Grant to Enforce Underage Drinking Laws

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office is one of the 15 law enforcement agencies across the state that will be receiving funding from the Maine Office of Substance Abuse to target underage drinking. The two-year $15,000 grant will help to coordinate efforts across Washington County to enforce existing underage drinking laws.

Alcohol abuse remains one of the critical problems facing families, communities, and law enforcement departments in Maine. Alcohol is the drug of choice among both youth and adults in Maine, and is a factor in all of the leading causes of death for Maine citizens under 30 years old.

For the past two years, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office has been working with Washington County: One Community to reduce underage and high risk drinking. “Law enforcement plays a critical role in reducing underage drinking in our county. This is a community problem and it takes an entire community working together to solve it. Research shows that alcohol kills more children than all illegal drugs combined. Many adolescents drink alcohol that was purchased by their parents and many do so without their parents’ knowledge.” states Sheriff Donnie Smith.

This funding will help with implementing underage drinking party patrols, collaboration among agencies for special call-out teams to handle large parties, third party transaction surveillance, and compliance checks. The funding will assist the Sheriff’s Office to those who provide alcohol and/or a place for minors to consume alcohol, as well as notifying parents or guardians of juveniles involved in the use of alcohol.

Eleody Libby, Executive Director of Washington County: One Community said, “As a society, we understand the message about not drinking and driving, but we still need to look at the bigger picture of underage and high risk drinking. The portion of the brain that controls decision making and reasoning is not fully developed until around the age of 25. Thus, a teen’s judgment is altered and this can lead to serious consequences.” Unfortunately this problem is growing as young people begin drinking at a younger age and at more dangerous levels. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office understands that alcohol affects adolescent brain development. Individuals who are under the influence are more susceptible to be involved in domestic violence, become injured, contract a sexually transmitted disease, have an unwanted pregnancy, miss academic instruction, and participate in other risky behaviors such as experimentation with illicit drugs.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office has recently increased emphasis on OUI’s, highway safety and party patrols, as well as alcohol education through instruction in schools. According to Smith, “The Sheriff’s Office partnership with Washington County: One Community has given us the opportunity to increase our party patrols, publicize our anonymous Tip Line and educate the public. It is through enforcement and collaboration that we hope to reduce underage access and educate the community. ” If you would like to report incidences of underage drinking in Washington County, the Tip Line is available and is completely confidential. Call 255-8303 or 1-800-432-7303. To find out what you can do in your community to reduce underage drinking please contact Sara McConnell at 255-3741.