Shane Denn

FARMINGTON — A Massachusetts man waived extradition Friday to clear the way for law enforcement in Massachusetts to pick him up to face charges connected to the burglary of New England Patriots player Rob Gronkowski’s home.

Maine prosecutors declined to prosecute Shane Denn, 26 – formerly of Tewksbury, Massachusetts, and now listed as a transient in court documents – on Franklin County charges of driving without a license and giving a false name and date of birth to a law enforcement officer.

Instead, they moved forward Friday on a fugitive from justice process. Denn is wanted in Massachusetts in connection with several attempted robberies and a burglary at a home Gronkowski shared with housemates who were all at the Super Bowl at the time. Two others have been charged in the Gronkowski case.

Denn appeared Friday before a judge in South Paris District Court via video conference from the Franklin County jail. He will be held without bail until he is extradited, according to court documents.

On Thursday, Franklin County Lt. David Rackliffe stopped a vehicle in Chesterville after a resident reported a man trying to force his way into a home in that area.

The caller gave a detailed description of the driver, a man described as having a beard, with a dark-haired woman in the passenger seat.

When Rackliffe saw the car and the male driver and female passenger that matched the description, he turned his cruiser around to make a traffic stop.

The car stopped in the roadway, and he noticed a lot of movement in the front seat and that the woman was now in the driver’s seat, according to Rackliffe’s affidavit filed with the Farmington court.

The woman provided the vehicle’s registration and her driver’s license to him.

He asked the man in the passenger seat for his driver’s license and Rackliffe told the man that he saw him driving.

Denn gave the name of Michael Shaw with a birth date of Oct. 5, 1992, a partial Social Security number, and said he lived in Boston.

A Franklin County dispatcher could not find a Michael Shaw with that information on file.

The man was arrested on a charge of operating without a license, as he could not provide Rackliffe proof that he has a driver’s license.

The woman in the driver’s seat, Kristen Wieners of Boston, told Rackliffe that she thought Shaw’s name was Shane Denn.

“We had a good idea who he was soon after the stop,” sheriff’s Chief Deputy Steven Lowell said Friday. “He did not confirm his identity until he was at the jail.”

Denn eventually identified himself to corrections officer Sean Moore.

A query of the name resulted in the discovery of numerous felony warrants out of Massachusetts, according to Rackliffe’s affidavit. Police investigation also confirmed Denn did not have a driver’s license in either Maine or Massachusetts.

A person accused or convicted of a crime who hides from law enforcement or flees across state lines to avoid arrest or punishment is considered a fugitive from justice.

The Massachusetts warrants confirmed that police in that state would extradite Denn.

Donna M. Perry can be contacted at:

dperry@sunmediagroup.net