Canadian arrested in bomb scare

HOULTON A Canadian man who held police at bay for nine hours bythreatening to blow up the Cyr Bus Line bus he was on unless he wastaken to Canada was arrested early Thursday morning and charged withmultiple crimes.

Houlton Police Chief Butch Asselin said that Daniel ThomasMaccabee, 50, was arrested without incident at about 4 a.m. andcharged with assault, aggravated reckless conduct and terrorizing.He is being held at the Aroostook County Jail.

Maccabee, who is a Canadian citizen, boarded the bus in Bangor.While en route, he told the bus driver that he wanted to go to theCanadian border and ordered him not to stop in Houlton. The driverrefused and pulled the bus into the Irving Big Stop restaurant inHoulton, Cyr Bus Lines customary depot. The bus parked between theIrving sign and the gas pumps, near the front entrance to thebusiness, which is open 24 hours a day.

Maccabee told the driver that he had a bomb and showed him whatappeared to be a detonator that had three wires connected to it. Thewire went from the detonator to a bulge under his jacket and shirt.

The six other passengers were allowed to exit the bus and a U.S.Border Patrol agent, who was at the Irving to conduct a routinecheck of the bus, notified the Houlton Police Department at 8:46p.m. about the bomb threat.

Houlton police Sgt. Fred Parker arrived shortly afterward toassist the agent and began speaking with Maccabee from the door ofthe bus. The 50-year-old suspect initially told the sergeant thathis name was Ruben Cullins, age 31, of the Bronx, New York. Policelater learned his true identity. Maccabee, who was born in Quebec,had last been living in Madison, Wis.

Police quickly shut down north- and southbound traffic on U.S.Route 1, where the business is located. The state police tacticalteam also was called.

Jim Nesbitt, who lives in Presque Isle, was driving on Interstate95 in Bangor headed toward Houlton when he saw a number of statepolice vehicles pass him. When he got to Houlton at 12:30 a.m., hesaw a sea of police officers and vehicles and quickly was stopped byan officer as he headed up Route 1.

Nesbitt said he was rerouted through the parking lot of a localgas station and given directions around the scene.

At the Irving Big Stop, Maccabee demanded that all customers becleared out of the restaurant and wanted various exterior doors inthe business locked. He wanted the interior doors left unlocked andopen. He ordered police not to shut off the utilities so he couldstill have access to fax and Internet service. Despite the request,he never left the bus.

Members of the Houlton police and the Maine State Police tacticalteam negotiated with Maccabee, who told them his original plan wasto force the bus to the Houlton Port of Entry, show the bomb toCanadian immigration authorities and demand asylum at the Israeliconsulate in Ottawa. Maccabee indicated that once he arrived there,he would give himself up.

He told police that he wanted to go Murrays Truck Stop inWoodstock, New Brunswick, until he could make arrangements to get tothe consulate.

While he was on the bus, Maccabee allegedly assaulted three womenbefore they were able to get off. He ordered one woman to the middleof the bus, and when she didnt move, he punched her in the arm andasked her if she wanted to die, police reported. He also allegedlykicked another woman in the leg, flashed the detonator and told herthat he wanted her seat. He grabbed a third woman by the hair andpushed her off the bus, police said.

After state police and a bomb squad arrived at the site at about11:15 p.m., officials used a remote-controlled robot to communicatewith Maccabee and provide live footage of the scene. Maccabee wasprovided a phone which he used to negotiate his demands with thestate police.

Asselin, who arrived at the scene at 9 p.m., said Maccabeedisplayed no drug or alcohol use. The suspect told police that hehad been detained by three FBI agents as he stepped off a bus inWashington, D.C. He said he had bomb building experience and waspreviously employed by the Israeli Secret Police. He told policethat he wanted asylum in Canada.

As the tactical team was preparing to force Maccabee off the buswith gas, he gave himself up, according to Asselin. Members of thebomb squad searched the bus for explosive devices but found none,the chief reported.

The device which Maccabee was holding that resembled a detonatorturned out to be a Nintendo Wii game system controller, intercomwire, duct tape and a spiral bound notebook.

The Irving Big Stop was open for business on Thursday morning,but an employee at the store said that the manager and otheremployees had been told not to speak to the media about theincident.

Jason Biggens, a long-haul truck driver from Columbus, Ohio, whowas getting gas at a neighboring station Thursday afternoon,recalled being stopped by police when he pulled into Houlton justafter 2 a.m.

I come to this part of Maine every week or so, and I usuallyalways stop at the Big Stop, he said. The minute I got off theinterstate I could see all of the blue lights flashing. I thoughtthere had been an accident or a gas spill or something. The copwouldnt tell me, he just told me how to reroute around Route 1.

Biggens said that he pulled into a Route 1 motel to spend thenight and heard rumor after rumor after rumor.

There were people outside trying to see what was going on, but itwas too dark and police werent letting anyone near, he said. Someonetold me that there was a guy with a gun on the bus, another persontold me that someone on the bus was threatening suicide. No onereally knew what was going on.

Kelly St. Pierre, who lives in Houlton, was returning to herhometown from a trip to Portland at around 1 a.m. Thursday. She saidshe had planned to meet a friend at the Big Stop for a late-nightsnack when he called her on her cell phone.

My friend told me that something was going on at the store andthat cops were everywhere, she said. I saw a ton of blue lights whenI got into town and saw a police officer rerouting traffic.

Michael Witten of Bridgewater works in Houlton and was droppingoff a friend at the Shiretown Motor Inn, which is just across thestreet from the restaurant, when the bus pulled into the parkinglot.

I saw the Border Patrol officer near the door as I drove away,and I saw a few people walking quickly from the bus, he said. Ididnt know what was going on, but I thought it was weird.

Joe Cyr, proprietor of the Old Town-based Cyr Bus Line, saidThursday that the bus was being driven by Archie Rivers, who hasbeen employed by the company on and off for about five years. Cyrsaid that he saw Rivers when the driver got back to the depotThursday morning.

He is all right. He is a bit shaken up, as anyone would be, saidCyr. But he believes he did the right thing. He is going to be backto work tonight.

Cyr said that Maccabee was the only passenger who planned to getoff the bus in Houlton. The rest were continuing north to Caribouand the St. John Valley. Cyr said that the passengers called thedepot and requested their luggage, which was to be delivered to themThursday night.

Taxis were provided for them to get to their final destinationsthis morning, Cyr said Thursday.

He said company officials havent yet talked about additionalsafety measures.

We are quite fortunate that the U.S. Border Patrol boards the busin Houlton, he said, referring to routine checks the Border Patrolconducts since Houlton is so near the Canadian border. Theysometimes take passengers off, usually for drugs. Sometimes peoplethink it is a nuisance, but in this case it worked out well. We willtalk about additional safety features, but we know these thingshappen. Sometimes there is nothing we can do.

Aroostook County District Attorney Todd Collins said Thursdaythat Maccabee likely will make an initial appearance in courtFriday, but court could be affected by a winter storm predicted tohit the area.

The U.S. Border Patrol, Aroostook County Sheriffs Department andU.S. Customs and Border Protection officers assisted at the scene.