FARMINGTON — A man seriously injured last week in a fall from the roof of the Emery Community Arts Center at the University of Maine at Farmington was formally charged Tuesday evening.
Devon Pease, 21, of Farmington faces charges of criminal trespass and criminal mischief, said Brock E. Caton, interim director of public safety/chief of police for the UMF Department of Public Safety/Campus Police.
Caton was unsure when Pease was released from a Portland hospital, but police caught up with him and charged him Tuesday, he said.
Pease and a second man, Joshua Farthing, 25, of Panama City, Fla., were spotted on the roof of Dearborn Gymnasium at about 2 a.m. Sept. 3 by a patrolling Franklin County Sheriff’s deputy.
When Deputy Colt Sleaster ordered the men to come down, they ignored the order and ran onto the roof of the Emery Arts Center, which is attached to Dearborn Gym, Caton said last week.
Officer Levi Gould of the campus police got on the roof to find the men.
“In an attempt to evade the officer, Pease attempted to climb down the north side of the building,” Caton said. “Pease lost his grip and fell approximately 40 feet to the pavement below, sustaining serious injuries.”
Farthing was found on the roof and given a citation on a charge of criminal trespass. He was released after Farmington Fire and Rescue used a ladder truck to help get him down from the arts center, Caton said.
abryant@sunjournal.com
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