MAINE, USA — State and Scarborough Police say weekend attacks in Scarborough, Freeport and West Bath all appear to be connected. Quinton Hanna, 22, is believed to be the alleged attacker in all three instances.
According to court documents obtained by NEWS CENTER Maine, the series of attacks started around 8 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 14, when Hanna allegedly stabbed a 68-year-old man at his home on 96 Wardtown Road in Freeport.
The man reported he was not expecting a visitor that night, and he greeted the suspect on his front porch. The man said the suspect asked if this was where someone lived (the man couldn't remember the name the suspect referenced).
When the man answered no, police said the suspect reportedly stepped forward and stabbed the man twice in the chest.
The man reported he fell back into the foyer of his home, thinking he had been stabbed with a pen. However, police said the man looked under his shirt, saw the wound, and realized he had been stabbed with a knife.
Police said the man reported the suspect was in no hurry to get back to his car, enabling the man to get back out onto his porch to read the license plate of the vehicle.
The victim was injured, but survived the attack. He was treated at a hospital and has since been released.
Police believe the next morning, Hanna traveled in a 2013 silver Subaru Outback to Scarborough.
At 8 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 15, police said it appeared Hanna stabbed James Pearson in the front yard of his Scarborough home. Pearson lived at 193 Beech Ridge Road in Scarborough.
State Police said Pearson's wife was home at the time of the attack and that his children, Robert and Mary, rushed home as soon as they were notified something was wrong. Pearson was also able to briefly communicate with Mary before he was taken to the hospital, saying something along the lines of "he punched me." When Mary asked who punched him, Pearson indicated he didn't know.
Police said Mary Pearson noticed her father's t-shirt, which was under a flannel shirt, was soaked in blood. Mary told police she ripped her father's shirt open and saw two distinct stab wounds, to which she started applying pressure until emergency crews arrived.
Pearson was transported to the hospital, where he died from his injuries.
Maine State Police said while officers were at Pearson's home, Scarborough Police notified them that about 15-20 minutes prior to the call to Pearson's home, a woman on Holmes Road in Scarborough reported a man had knocked on her door looking for someone named "Jon."
The woman said she did not open the door and the man left, heading in the direction of Beech Ridge Road in "a medium-gray Subaru wagon."
Police said the woman was later called in to identify Hanna in a lineup, and she did so with what she said was 100% certainty.
After the attack on Pearson, police believe Hanna traveled in a 2013 silver Subaru Outback to West Bath.
Approximately two hours after the attack in Scarborough, between 9:30 and 10 a.m., police said Hanna sexually assaulted and threatened a 42-year-old woman on Birch Point Road in West Bath.
The woman told police she was out running, when she noticed a silver Subaru drive past her. She told police it sounded like something was dragging from the vehicle.
She said the car passed her, and then pulled to a stop shortly ahead of her.
The woman said a man got out of the vehicle and asked her if she could look under his car because he believed its bumper was dragging.
She told police she found the request odd and started to walk away. Then she said the man grabbed her by the arm, displayed a knife, dragged her 15-20 feet into the woods, and sexually assaulted her.
The woman managed to escape. She told police that while she was running down the road in an effort to get away, the suspect chased her down and ran her over with a gray Subaru Outback. At that point, neighbors reported hearing screams, as well as hearing the vehicle crash. Those reports came in to the Sagadahoc County Sheriffs Department around 10 a.m.
At this point, police said Hanna fled the scene on foot. State Police reported that an officer saw Hanna fleeing and chased him into the woods, but the officer was unable to catch him. However, police did eventually locate a "2013 Subaru Outback, dark gray in color and bearing Maine registration." The vehicle was reported to be heavily damaged. Police said the vehicle was registered to Quinton Hanna.
It appears the suspect then traveled on foot to West Side Drive in West Bath and committed a robbery of a 72-year-old woman.
The woman reported a man knocked on her door, saying he needed help. He asked that she get him a phone.
When she returned with a phone, she said the suspect had entered the home. She reported that the suspect asked, "Do you want to die?" and then threatened to stab her unless she retrieved her keys for him.
Police said the woman's husband then entered the room with a loaded handgun and pointed it at the suspect.
Police said Hanna then fled on foot again, went to a home on Houghton Pond Road in West Bath, and stole a black Ford Explorer from a home. The car was reported stolen to police around 11:17 a.m.
Several police departments were called to assist in finding the stolen car.
Around 11:45 a.m., Brunswick Police say their officers were notified that the person inside the stolen vehicle may have threatened a person with a knife and the knife may still be inside the vehicle.
At 12:02 p.m. police stopped the vehicle on Main St. in Brunswick in front of Northeast Bank. Police reported a small knife falling from the vehicle as Hanna was being ordered to exit it.
Scarborough Police later reported they had received information of a burglary at a home on Den Drive in Scarborough, which occurred around 3 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 15. It was reported that a knife was missing out of the knife block in the residence. The knife was later tested for DNA and police said a single DNA profile was found on it, which didn't match Pearson or the 68-year-old Freeport victim.
Quinton Hanna was taken into custody. He was taken to Two Bridges Regional Jail.
Police said he was read his Miranda Warnings and then he agreed to speak with them. Hanna told police he had been in a car accident, his car was totaled, and his right thigh hurt. He suggested the accident had involved a tree. He said he looked for help in the woods and couldn't find anyone. He said he came across a vehicle with the keys inside and was later stopped by Brunswick police in that same vehicle. He said he had not planned to keep the vehicle but offered no suggestion as to how he planned to return it.
Hanna also told police he woke up around 7:30 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 15, and his day had included driving around and trying to do some Christmas shopping in Portland.
Police said during this interview with Hanna, they observed multiple cuts on Hanna's right hand, as well as red/brown stains on his jeans. Hanna told them he had fallen multiple times in the woods and he had been wiping blood from his hands on his jeans.
The investigation remains ongoing and it has not yet been determined which knife or knives were used during each of the incidents described, including the murder of James Pearson.
Hanna appeared in Cumberland County Superior Court on Thursday, Dec. 19 to face his murder charge in the death of James Pearson. He is being held without bail.
State Police say the victims in the three attacks appear to be "targets of opportunity," however, police emphasize the investigation is still ongoing.
Police would like to speak to anyone who saw the 2013 silver Subaru Outback traveling on the roads this week.
Quinton Hanna is from Freeport. He graduated from Mt. Abram High School in 2015.
Hanna had a prior criminal record. Through a background check, NEWS CENTER Maine learned that in October 2016, Hanna was charged with two cases of misdemeanor theft.
In November 2016, he was charged by the University of Maine in Gorham for unlawful sexual touching, a misdemeanor change. In the same case, it appears he was also charged with disorderly conduct and criminal trespassing.
In March 2017, Hanna was charged with violating conditions of release.