When the brick smashed into his head, Joe Frechette said, “it was like if someone unplugged me.” Frechette, a senior media studies major, was standing outside Portland Hall on Congress Street when an unidentified assailant threw the large red brick with enough force to knock Frechette to the ground and to break a window that lay beyond.
As Frechette fell, the brick punched through a plate glass window and came to rest on the floor of the building’s main lobby. Lying prone on the sidewalk, Frechette could see someone walking slowly away, still yelling at him.
Frechette regained his feet and entered Portland Hall under his own power. He told the USM Police Officer on duty which way his attacker had gone, but the officer couldn’t pursue the suspect because USM Police have jurisdiction only on property that the university owns or controls. So, even though the brick landed on university property, the officer on duty did not have the authority to do police work outside of Portland Hall. USM Police’s only recourse was to call the Portland Police and wait. By the time they did arrive, though, the suspect was long gone, and there was little left for the Police to investigate.
USM Police Chief Lisa Beecher said that the current jurisdiction laws have been an issue even before the August 1 incident. “It’s an issue we’re working on as we speak,” she said. “It doesn’t make a lot of sense that we can’t respond to students and faculty who are just across the lines.” Beecher has been trying to secure different rules at the State legislature and with the Board of Trustees since before the event at Portland Hall brought the issue to light this summer. She says that USM’s many campuses, as well as the large commuter population, demand more flexible Police coverage. Until new guidelines are put in place, though, USM Police are helpless to do anything for students who need help while off school property, including the sidewalk in front of Portland Hall.
There is very little information available regarding the attack outside Portland Hall. It is not even certain how many people were witnesses. Frechette says that there was a group of students from the Maine College of Arts’ early college program nearby. These are high school students that attend the school for several weeks over the summer, and who have long since gone back to their homes, throughout the country.
Frechette is disappointed with the actions of the Police that night.
“They were asking me for a profile and if I wanted to press charges,” he said. “I was still confused. I didn’t know what the hell was going on. And they didn’t try to get everyone together to take a composite.”
The attack occurred on the night of August 1st and the suspect is still at large.
Frechette says that Portland Hall’s Residence Hall Coordinator, Joy Britting, said she had heard about a suspicious person wielding a brick earlier in the day on August 1st, but he doesn’t know if she has reported this information to the authorities. Britting was reluctant to answer any questions, she said, because the case was still under investigation. USM Police Investigator Ronald Saindon was able to provide a general description of the event, but could say little else. He does have leads and a suspect. He also said that a suspect, if arrested, would face criminal mischief and assault charges. As of press time, no arrests have been made.
John Bronson can be contacted at [email protected]