Neil Lanteigne, pictured after his March 20, 2019, arrest.
PARIS — A West Paris man accused of engaging police in a standoff and leading them on a chase through his remote property in 2019 — the culmination of a yearslong property dispute with his neighbors — has been charged with two counts of violating conditions of release after police say he had contact with those neighbors, in violation of his bail conditions.
Last March, Neil Lanteigne confronted his neighbors Michael and Linda Korhonen and Peter and Deirdre Binney at his property line on Finn Road, and allegedly recorded the episode. A month later, he was indicted on charges of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, threatening display of a weapon, criminal trespass and refusing to submit to arrest.
According to police at the time, when they attempted to serve him with a warrant Lanteigne fired six shots at deputies before fleeing on a snowmobile. He was armed with an assault rifle and handgun, and apprehended after a four-hour chase on snowshoes through a remote, wooded area bordering the Binney and Korhonen properties.
The firearm charge stems from a 1997 conviction for grand theft auto in Brevard County, Florida.
Lanteigne has been embroiled in a longstanding property dispute with his neighbors and filed a civil lawsuit against them over access to disputed property on Finn Road, a road privately owned by the Binneys and Korhonens that Lanteigne asserts he has access to.
He was arrested Jan. 9 when he appeared in Paris District Court for that civil case, and charged with two counts of violating conditions of release; each charge was contained in a separate warrant. The warrants were issued in October.
On Oct. 9, according to an affidavit by Oxford County Sheriff’s Deputy Zane Loper, Lanteigne violated bail conditions set following his March arrest. Theyexplicitly stated he was not to have contact with his neighbors, all of whom own property that abuts Lanteigne’s land.
According to Loper, Micheal Korhonen was working in the woods on Binney’s property, using a tractor to make a snowmobile trail. While in the woods, Lanteigne recorded Korhonen with his phone and “mirrored” Korhonen’s movements along his own property line. Korhonen asked Lanteigne to stop recording him, but Lanteigne did not answer and kept recording, according to police.
Korhonen changed directions several times, and Lanteigne continued to follow the man until Korhonen left the area. Lanteigne never spoke to Korhonen or came onto his property.
“Lanteigne placed himself in the vicinity of Korhonen by standing a short distance from him and recording all of his movements. This behavior is a passive-aggressive stance which is intended to disrupt . . . work at the location and he was successful,” Loper wrote in the affidavit.
According to Loper, he attempted to call Lanteigne on his cellphone four separate times that night, but all calls went straight to voicemail, leading Loper to believe Lanteigne was purposefully avoiding him. Later that evening, when Loper tried again, Lanteigne’s phone rang but the voicemail box hadn’t been set up to take messages.
A warrant for Lanteigne’s arrest was issued Oct. 11, based on the contact between Lanteigne and Korhonen.
A second violation allegedly occurred Oct. 30.
According to a separate affidavit written by Loper on the later incident, Deirdre Binney was walking on her property near a stone wall that borders Lanteigne’s property when she heard a loud gunshot that, according to the affidavit, indicated Lanteigne was very close. Lanteigne then popped up from a location on his side of the stonewall and began recording Binney with his phone.
According to Loper, Lanteigne made direct contact with Binney, asking her who she was and why she was stalking him, allegedly saying that “he could play the game too.”
A second warrant was issued for Lanteigne’s arrest on Oct. 31.
In an email to Oxford County Deputy Sheriff Chancey Libby, Oxford County Chief Deputy James Urquhart and Oxford County Victim Advocate Tonya Lewis dated Nov. 6, Peter Binney wrote that Lanteigne was constructing “forts” close to the property line, which he used to conceal his movements, and he erected a flag pole 10 feet from the property line with a black garbage bag flying from it.
Binney also wrote about instances where Lanteigne would “pop out” of the fort as he and his wife walked or drove by, took pictures and ignored requests to stop, all since the March police chase.
Lanteigne was released Jan. 10 from the Oxford County Jail on $5,000 cash bail, but since he had paid the same bail amount following his March arrest he was not required to pay it again. He is scheduled to appear in court April 22 on the most recent charges.
In the meantime, bail conditions remain the same as last March, including no use or possession of firearms, be subject to random search and not have direct or indirect contact with neighbors.
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