The Waldo County Sheriff’s Office used Maine’s yellow flag law to confiscate numerous guns earlier this week from a man on 700 Acre Island near Islesboro who was reportedly suffering a mental health issue.
The man was taken into custody on Monday for a medical evaluation after police initially received a report that he had gotten a boat ride to the island and walked off into the woods while possibly carrying a concealed firearm, according to the sheriff’s office. He also reportedly wore a bulletproof vest.
Police did not share additional information about what threat the man was suspected to pose to himself or others, which is a necessary condition for police to use the yellow flag law to seize guns. He was cooperative when authorities located him, and he has not been criminally charged.
The man was an employee of Pendleton Yacht Yard on Islesboro, and the incident came after he “had a major mental break,” according to owner Gabe Pendleton.
While Pendleton did not have firsthand knowledge of the events on Monday, he said that the man reportedly got on the wrong boat out of the Lincolnville Ferry Terminal and ended up at 700 Acre Island, where there is another boatyard.
Workers on that boat reported the man to police after getting scared by his behavior and the possibility that he was carrying a gun, according to the accounts Pendleton has heard.
The sheriff’s office, working with the U.S. Coast Guard, eventually located the man on an outboard-powered skiff near the north end of the island. He was not carrying a weapon or wearing a bulletproof vest and cooperated with being taken to a medical facility for evaluation and treatment, police said.
After the yellow flag law was invoked, police confiscated “numerous firearms” that belonged to the man, according to the sheriff’s office.
The case has shocked the island communities, especially following the mass shooting in Lewiston last fall.
“It’s a very scary incident, and it’s hard to process,” said Pendleton. “This individual worked here for more than a year. This was not something anyone saw coming or thought was a possibility.”
