Scott John Hafford Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office
GREENE — A pair of Longley Road men are credited with wrestling a gun away from a Vassalboro man who police say invaded one home Wednesday morning and was in the process of invading a second.
A woman who was forced into her home and then into a car at gunpoint escaped the ordeal without injury. Androscoggin County Sheriff’s deputies were able to arrest 57-year-old Scott John Hafford of Vassalboro after the two men secured him until police arrived.
Hafford was charged with kidnapping, two counts of burglary, three counts of criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, three counts of assault and charges of criminal mischief, possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and violating conditions of release.
Police said the drama unfolded about 1 a.m. Wednesday and described a chaotic scene as Hafford allegedly made his way from one home to another.
“The event began when a female resident of Longley Road observed a vehicle in her driveway which she did not recognize,” sheriff’s officials wrote in a news release. “The female resident went outside to see who was at her residence to find an unknown male wearing a ski mask and armed with a handgun. The male suspect made the female resident go back inside her house before making her get into his vehicle and drive to a neighbor’s house.
“At the neighbor’s house,” the release continues, “the armed suspect made the female knock at the door. An adult male from the second residence opened the door where the (suspect) pointed the handgun at him. The suspect entered the residence where he threatened the male and an adult female. Another male from the second residence was quickly alerted to the armed suspect and the two males were able to fight the armed suspect and take the firearm away from him and secure him until deputies arrived.”
Hafford was first taken to a Lewiston hospital to be treated for injuries suffered when he wrestled with the two men and later to the Androscoggin County Jail in Auburn where he was being held on $150,000 cash bail.
At the time of his arrest, Hafford was out on bail from previous charges in the Augusta area of two counts of terrorizing and a charge of driving while intoxicated.
Sheriff’s officials were continuing to investigate the home invasions later Wednesday. Investigators from that department were passing along information to police in other jurisdictions — in Vassalboro, some residents who live near Hafford’s home on Tabor Hill Road have reported attempted break-ins at their own houses over recent days.
It was not immediately clear why Hafford was in Greene on Wednesday morning. There were no indications that he knew the people he allegedly targeted on Longley Road.
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