A Portland man is in custody on multiple charges after allegedly assaulting a police officer and wrestling with the officer in a northbound lane of Interstate 295 before pepper spray and assistance from other motorists subdued him.
Police said Andrew Hicks, 27, was trying to get his drugs back when he tussled with Maine State Trooper Mark Ferreira in the travel lane of the highway near exit 49 in the Gardiner area.
Ferreira finally handcuffed Hicks after pepper-spraying him, hitting him in the leg with a baton and controlling him with the help of other motorists, according to an affidavit filed Wednesday in a Kennebec County court, where Hicks made his initial court appearance.
Ferreira pulled over a car driven by Michelle Bourget, 23, of Portland, for driving 82 mph in a 70-mph zone around 1 p.m. Tuesday near mile 49, according to the affidavit.
Bourget told Ferreira she and her boyfriend, Hicks, who was in the passenger seat, were driving to Bangor for the day just to go for a drive.
After Ferreira smelled marijuana, Bourget allegedly admitted it had been smoked in the car recently and that there was a small amount of marijuana in the car as well, the affidavit said.
Ferreira said he asked both Bourget and Hicks to step out of the car and told Hicks he would search him for drugs.
After Ferreira found a small green rubber container in Hicks’ front pocket, Hicks told Ferreira he had drugs in there and that he was not going to jail. Hicks lowered his shoulders and ran at Ferreira, the affidavit said.
The two scuffled in a driving lane of the highway, Hicks telling the trooper to give back his drugs, until Ferreira secured Hicks with the help of “two or three motorists” who had stopped.
Police found what appeared to be heroin and 12 oxycodone pills in the small green container, $9,600 in cash behind the car’s glove box, $487 in cash in Hicks’ wallet and a second marijuana pipe in the vehicle, according to the affidavit. While Hicks was being treated, he said to Bourget for “them to not take my money,” the affidavit said.
Bourget was charged with possession of a scheduled W drug, Suboxone, was arrested and was released later Tuesday from the Kennebec County jail on $250 bail.
Hicks was charged with assault on an officer, two counts of unlawful possession of drugs and criminal mischief, obstructing government administration and disorderly conduct, according to a court clerk and a news release from Maine Department of Safety spokesman Steve McCausland.
Hicks is being held at the Kennebec County jail.
Paul Koenig — 621-5663
Twitter: @paul_koenig
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