RANGELEY PLANTATION, Maine — Shawn Batchelder and Steven Petersen had been evading capture by Maine law enforcement for nearly a month. On Thursday, both men were caught hiding in a garage in Rangeley Plantation.
Batchelder, a probationer, was sentenced to the Maine Department of Corrections on May 22, 2012, with a 25-year sentence, all but 10 years suspended and 4 years probation, for class A gross sexual assault. On Friday, September 18, police reported that he failed to report to his probation officer. He was considered a danger to himself and potentially others.
Batchelder was with Steven Petersen, who is currently on bail for a charge of gross sexual assault in York County.
Around 5:45 p.m. Thursday, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office took a report of two men walking on the Bemis Road in Rangeley Plantation. The men fit the description of Batchelder and Petersen. According to the sheriff's office, a local man and woman were driving south on the Bemis Road when Batchelder and Petersen flagged them down and asked for help. The couple recognized them as the fugitives, drove off, and called Franklin County Dispatch to advise of the sighting.
Deputies from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office responded to the area of the sighting, alongside Rangeley Police, members of the U.S. Border Patrol and the Maine Warden Service.
At 7:25 p.m., a separate homeowner who lives on the Bemis Road called dispatch to advise that the two men were inside their garage and were trying to make a phone call to someone in Portland. All agencies responded quickly to the residence and found Bachelder and Peterson in the garage.
The two men were placed under arrest without incident. They were initially evaluated by NorthStar Ambulance at the scene of the arrest before being transported to the Franklin Memorial Hospital for a more detailed medical evaluation. According to the Franklin County Sheriff's Office, both men were dirty and in need of food.
Once medically cleared, both males were transported to the Franklin County Jail without incident.
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, with the help of Maine State Police, the U.S. Border Patrol, the Maine Warden Service and an investigator from the Dept. of Corrections, have been conducting organized searches in and around the Rangeley Plantation area and Letter D Township since September 18.
The sheriff's office said there had been many false sightings, and that the last large search was conducted on September 25, during which they checked camps along various ponds in the Letter D Township area. Once those leads were exhausted the Sheriff’s Office maintained increased patrol in the area to follow up upon any leads.
"We were quite surprised to find that they had actually been living in the woods the entire time," Franklin County Sheriff Scott Nichols said. "We are happy that this matter has come to a peaceful conclusion, and that local residents can rest easy knowing that these two are no longer in the area."