Police have arrested five suspects in connection with a robbery during which a man was shot last week in Buxton.
Police were still seeking a sixth suspect Tuesday in connection with what police have described as a “drug rip-off.”
Following the arrests of three teenage suspects on Saturday, police arrested two more suspects Monday. The five were arrested in Portland.
The arrests came after Christopher Hutchins, 21, who lived in a Webster Road farmhouse, was shot in a leg in an alleged robbery about 4 p.m. on Friday. Police also have recovered a shotgun and two handguns they believe were connected to the Buxton incident.
Joshua Seavey, 18, of Portland was arrested on Saturday along with two juveniles from Greater Portland, ages 16 and 17. Seavey is expected to appear in court this week and was being held at Cumberland County Jail. The two juveniles were taken to Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland.
On Monday, Eleanor Foley, 21 of South Portland, was arrested at Portland Police Department and Virgil Buzzell Jr., 20, of Portland was arrested at Cumberland County Jail. Foley and Buzzell were arrested during interviews and had turned themselves in, according to Steve McCausland, a spokesman for Maine Public Safety.
The five suspects have been charged with robbery and additional charges may be filed. McCausland said one other suspect is being sought.
Buxton Officer Jason McClure was the first officer to respond to the incident, which is still under investigation. McClure and Buxton police are working with Maine State Police, Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and local police departments in Portland and Falmouth.
McCausland described the robbery as a “drug rip-off.” He said the intruders allegedly made off with marijuana. Drug enforcement officers seized “several pounds” of marijuana at the farmhouse on Saturday along with psychedelic mushrooms.
Hutchins, who was one of three men in the house during the incident, was shot in the thigh by a bullet. His dog, a mixed pit bull, was hit in the chest with buckshot from a shotgun.
McCausland said Hutchins is recovering following surgery but didn’t have a condition report on the man on Tuesday. He said the dog was also recovering.
The three guns were found in a wooded area in Portland near the intersection of Congress and Sewell streets.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Comments are no longer available on this story