York Town News
Shooting victim charged in gun incident; Stop N Go burglary solved
By Jennifer L. Saunders
YORK - The York Police Department has announced new developments in two cases that made headlines in recent weeks.First, in the case of the Jan. 16 shooting of Patrick J. Simpson, a local business owner, the investigation is ongoing, but Simpson himself is now facing charges in a separate incident.
York Sgt. Thomas Baran confirmed in a report issued last Wednesday, Jan. 24, that Simpson, 39, of 75 York St., has been charged with two counts each of Class C felony criminal threatening with a firearm and Class C felony reckless conduct with a firearm.
Each count carries a maximum penalty of $5,000 and a sentence of 3 to 5 years in prison.
The charges came after York police responded shortly after 11 p.m. on Jan. 23, to find Simpson holding two people at gunpoint outside his home, according to Baran's report.
"Officers responded to that location and observed an individual pointing a handgun at two males lying on the ground in the driveway of that residence," Baran noted. "This section of York Street was closed for about 30 minutes while officers secured the individual with the handgun and others at the scene to investigate the case."
As a result of that investigation, it turned out 24-year-old Casimir Efthimiou and 25-year-old Chad Spencer, both of York, had been passing the house along York Street when their vehicle hit a realty sign in the road. According to police, the two men stopped and removed the sign from the roadway, going to the house to notify the residents of the damage to the sign. When no one answered the door, the two began walking back to their car.
At that point, according to police, Simpson came out from behind the house and held them at gunpoint.
As it turned out, however, the two men who stopped at Simpson's residence were not involved in any way in his shooting and the small fire at Simpson's York Beach business one week earlier.
"There was no connection whatsoever to the Shelton's incident," York Police Chief Douglas Bracy confirmed. "… Even Mr. Simpson has said he doesn't know them."
Upon arriving at the scene, police took a loaded Braztech .38 Special revolver from Simpson's possession.
Simpson has been released on bail pending a Feb. 13 York County Superior Court appearance. Bracy confirmed bail conditions include no contact with the Spencer and Efthimiou, no possession of dangerous weapons and submitting to random searches.
Acknowledging the stress Simpson had been under following his shooting and hospitalization the prior week, Bracy said in cases like this, "You just can't take it into your own hands."
Bracy added the recent incident does not in any way affect the ongoing investigation of the attack on Simpson or the suspicious fire at Shelton's in York Beach. At this time, he said, police have gathered evidence - as well as information from a variety of interviews - and are awaiting results of testing at the Maine State Police Crime Lab.
The investigation will take time, Bracy said, adding that local residents should view the case as an isolated incident and not a random act of violence.
"I believe that this was targeted at this one individual and location," he said.
At this point, Bracy added, he could not speak more specifically about the case.
In a separate case involving a Jan. 20 break-in at Stop N Go Video in the Long Sands Plaza, police have charged two local teens with Class C felony burglary.
Both men, 18-year-old James T. Pidgeon of 10 Egret Circle, and Nicholas P. Foster, also 18, of 46 Sentry Hill Road, are scheduled to appear in York County Superior Court on Feb. 20 on the charges.
According to police reports, the front door of the video store had been smashed and the cash register ransacked. Items taken from the store included a safe, cash and lottery tickets.
Bracy noted that York Detective Steven Spofford worked with the York Beach Fire Department to recover the safe from a river in town. Also recovered was an undisclosed sum of money and lottery tickets.
With felony cases, evidence will be presented to a York County Grand Jury for possible indictment on the charges. An indictment is not an indication of guilt; rather, it means a grand jury has determined there is sufficient evidence to move forward with a trial.
