On Aug. 5, 2018, our assistant pastor, John Ames, was arrested and charged with OUI while driving through Skowhegan to buy food for his animals (“Police: Drunken driver hurt Skowhegan officer, claimed chest pains once arrested,” Aug. 6). The newspaper put his picture and the headlines announced that he was arrested for drunken driving. Due to that arrest, John has not been able to perform volunteer services that he has been involved in for 16 years.

All who know John knows what an asset he is to surrounding communities. He donates his time, talent and heavy-duty equipment to churches and nursing homes around the Madison and Canaan areas. He works diligently to bring musical talent to our communities and donates his time to set up and disassemble the equipment after the concerts are over. He arranged a benefit concert to benefit a local church that needed roof repairs and it was a huge success.

I am writing because of the harm that has been done and the unfair treatment shown to Ames in August of last year. Four months after this arrest, his bail money was returned because his blood test, which had not been sent in on a timely manner, came back showing no alcohol was present. Not only was he falsely accused and arrested, he spent a night in jail after being treated harshly by the officer.

I am asking that this letter be published to help clear his name. This has cost him thousands of dollars in legal fees as well as disrupting his career that he loves, glorifying God with music and biblical teaching to those who are desperate situations either by incarceration, homelessness or lonely in nursing homes.

Diana Perkins

Waterville


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