PLYMOUTH, Maine — A Brooks man faces charges following a standoff with police that lasted several hours on Monday.
Around 2:36 a.m., officers with the Belfast Police Department stopped a vehicle for a license plate violation in the area of 22 Searsport Ave. in Belfast, a news release from the department said.
Upon stopping the vehicle, the driver, 48-year-old Stephen Larrabee, could not provide a driver's license, but showed police a state ID, according to the release. While officers spoke with Larrabee, they became concerned he may be impaired by alcohol, drugs, or both.
"When officers asked the driver to exit the vehicle to further investigate his impairment, they observed the driver reach for something they believed was a handgun on the seat," the release stated.
Officers then began to back up from the vehicle and gave Larrabee commands to show his hands, but he fled the scene in the vehicle leading to a "slow speed pursuit through several towns," according to Monday's release.
"During the slow-speed pursuit, Waldo dispatch confirmed that the operator had two outstanding arrest warrants, was on bail conditions, and had a revoked license," the release stated. "Belfast officers requested the assistance of Waldo County sheriffs who were able to deploy spike strips to disable the vehicle. The vehicle eventually became disabled on Moosehead Trail in Plymouth, at which point, the suspect refused to exit and barricaded himself in the vehicle."
Negotiators tried to get Larrabee to exit the vehicle for "several hours with no success," authorities said. At one point during the hours-long standoff, he told police he had a handgun in the vehicle.
Larrabee was taken into custody without incident by the Penobscot County Sheriff's Office Special Response Team once the several-hour standoff ended, according to the release. He was taken back to Waldo County where he will face charges. Belfast police seized Larrabee's vehicle, a green 2007 Buick Lucerne, pending a search warrant.
Larrabee was charged with operating after revocation, violations of conditions of release, failure to stop for a law enforcement officer, and felon in possession of firearms, the release stated.
During Larrabee's booking, police also learned he was in possession "of what appeared to be illegal narcotics," according to the release, and those charges are pending further investigation. He is being held at the Waldo County Jail and is scheduled to be arraigned on March 3.
