LEWISTON — A local man charged with attempted murder is accused of trying to shoot someone at a Mechanic Falls campsite last week, police said.
Sean Hutchins Androscoggin County Jail
Sean Hutchins, 37, allegedly fired four rounds from a .40-caliber handgun at a man Thursday evening, according to an affidavit written by Mechanic Falls Police Chief Jeffrey Goss.
That man told police he and Hutchins had been arguing when Hutchins took the man’s pistol from him and fired it at him as he fled into nearby woods.
Police recovered four shell casings in that area, Goss wrote.
He and an officer had been dispatched to True Street for a report of someone who had emerged from the woods, appeared to be intoxicated and was armed with a handgun, Goss wrote.
The man who called 911 told police that the person who was later identified as Hutchins was saying nobody cared about him. He said Hutchins had his finger on the trigger of the gun, but the man had been able to usher Hutchins off of his property and urged him to put the gun in his pocket, Goss wrote.
The man left to retrieve his own gun for self-defense when he heard a gunshot and feared Hutchins was shooting at someone, he told police.
Hutchins then fled up Elm Street where the man pointed out a spent shell casing that police would match to the four casings recovered that night near the campsite, Goss wrote.
Hutchins apparently then went to a home on Eastview Road and knocked on the door, but wasn’t able to get inside, Goss wrote.
Goss said he and others yelled at Hutchins, but he fled into the woods.
Goss said he told residents to stay indoors and to call 911 if they saw anyone fitting Hutchins’ description.
One of those residents called dispatchers to say Hutchins was behind his home on Woodland Road.
Police converged on the area and pursued Hutchins as he fled back into the woods, Goss wrote.
Hutchins was later captured and taken to St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center where he was evaluated and cleared medically for booking at Androscoggin County Jail in Auburn.
He was charged with attempted murder, a crime punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
Hutchins also was charged with reckless conduct with a firearm and criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, both felonies and each punishable by up to five years in prison.
He faces two misdemeanor charges: refusing to submit to arrest or detention and violation of condition of release.
Hutchins had been free on his personal recognizance after he was charged last month with two driving-related crimes.
Prosecutors filed a motion to have his bail revoked pending a hearing on those alleged bail violations.
Hutchins remains at Androscoggin County Jail in lieu of $20,000 cash bail on the new alleged criminal conduct.
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