The driver of a car with Vermont plates was stopped on Portland Street recently for using a cell phone while driving and was arrested for resisting detention. He was released after erroneous information provided to South Berwick police was corrected.
A dog that was in the car at the time remained there at the owner’s request until the driver returned.
When the 47-year-old male driver from Newport, Vt., could not produce registration for the vehicle, the police officer ran the plate number, which he was wrongly told by Vermont authorities did not match with the car.
The officer asked the driver to exit the car so he could get a closer look at the vehicle identification number from inside the car, according to Deputy Chief Scott Stephens, and at that point the officer noticed what appeared to be a knife clipped to the driver’s pocket.
“For officer safety reasons the officer attempted to remove the knife from the driver while he verified the VIN. The driver did not comply and began to resist detention,” said Stephens. The driver was then charged with “refusing to submit to arrest or detention.”
The dog and the car remained parked on Portland Street about a block from the square while the driver was transported to the Police Department, where police verified the vehicle did in fact have the proper registration; the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles had entered the wrong color and vehicle model.
The driver was returned to his vehicle shortly thereafter. He was “released and he went on his way,” Stephens said.
Berwick police and an additional South Berwick officer provided back-up during the incident.
Police did not respond to additional inquiries on whether fines were levied, if charges were brought, and how long the man was held before he was released and returned to his dog.
