BETHEL — An emergency water pipe repair Thursday afternoon at a Spring Street house became frightful for the crew when a caller alerted police that the tenant would shoot anyone who responded, officials said.

However, after investigating and later questioning the tenant, they learned he hadn’t threatened to harm anyone and that the caller might not have been truthful, Oxford County Sheriff’s Deputy George Cayer said.

Still, once the threat was called in, police and the water district crew had to take it seriously, Cayer and water district Superintendent Lucien Roberge said.

Six deputies and a  Maine State Police trooper responded, telling the Bethel Water District crew to go to the fire station until they secured the scene at 16 Spring St., Cayer said.

“We had a complaint that there was some water damage being done in the house by frozen pipes from another family member and the complainant made the statement that this (tenant) was going to shoot anybody that came to the house if they tried to evict him,” Cayer said.

Both declined to identify the tenant or landlord and no one was harmed, charged or arrested.

Roberge said they normally use a curb stop above ground to shut off water, but it had been sheared off so they had to quickly dig it up, because leaks threaten the amount of available water for fire protection.

He arrived with a crew.

“It was kind of scary, because I didn’t know what was going on, so I ran out there and painted it as quickly as I could and evacuated and, of course, then called Dig Safe,” Roberge said, to get emergency clearance to dig.

When the deputies and trooper arrived they donned flak jackets, armed themselves with assault rifles and slowly advanced on the house from cover. After determining the tenant wasn’t home, they told Roberge and the crew to return and work while officers provided security.

“They really made me feel safe,” Roberge said. “They were everywhere. They were watching the side of the house, the back of the house, they shut the road down, they had a guy standing with us with what looked like an AR-15 and we couldn’t have been any safer.”

While they worked, the tenant arrived, Cayer said.

“He denied making any threats and said he wasn’t going to do any harm, but we had him leave the area until the water district was finished doing what they had to do to dig the street up, and he left of his own free will,” Cayer said.

“It’s kind of nerve-racking,” Roberge said, “because you want to trust the Sheriff’s department, but you’re still looking in the windows trying to see if you can see somebody looking out with a gun,” he said. “It’s a scary experience.”

“The officer said, ‘Don’t worry. You’re all set.’ I said, ‘Alright, boys, let’s go and get this done and get out of here,’ and they did. We didn’t fool around. We got right to business. That was the fastest repair I think we’ve ever done.”

tkarkos@sunjournal.com

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