WILTON — A Massachusetts man wanted on charges of murder and an armed robbery in that state was captured about 1 p.m. Tuesday on Winter Hill Road in Carthage, according to Maine State Police.
Derell D. Guy, 34, of Lynn, Massachusetts, was captured Tuesday in Carthage. Wilton Police Department photo photo
Derell D. Guy, 34, of Lynn was last seen fleeing into the woods in Wilton following a traffic stop about 10:30 a.m. Monday in the vicinity of Walker Hill Road and U.S. Route 2, police said. He was a passenger in the vehicle.
He was taken into custody, about 6 miles from where he fled, by the Maine State Police Tactical Team with assistance from a K-9 without incident or injury, Maine State Police Lt. Jason Madore said. About 75 to 80 law enforcement officers participated in the search since Monday.
Police received credible information about Guy’s location about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday from a man who arrived home and saw a man behind his residence, near the wood line on Earth Way, which is off Winter Hill Road, Madore said. They had a brief conversation and the fugitive fled on foot.
Multiple law enforcement agencies responded, set up a perimeter and searched the area.
Law enforcement officials said Tuesday afternoon during a news conference they were very thankful for the teamwork between the agencies and residents in the communities at large providing information, food, water, shelter and continued support.
“The community was a huge help to us,” Madore said. Residents called in places that they could search, including camps and outbuildings, and put the information on social media.
Area residents had been asked by authorities Monday to lock their doors and be on the lookout but not approach Guy if they saw him.
Guy was taken to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office in Farmington where a U.S. marshal was to charge him with being a fugitive from justice.
Guy had not said anything to police as of 3 p.m., he said.
Guy will have to answer to charges here before an extradition process to return him to Massachusetts, Madore said.
Massachusetts State Police didn’t participate in the search but provided information to the Maine State Police to help with the search and investigation.
Maine State Police will continue the investigation to try and figure out why Guy was in Maine and what he was doing in that time, Madore said.
Local people knew of him but not of his background, he said.
Search efforts included officers from the Maine State Police, Maine Warden Service, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, Farmington Police Department, U.S. Border Patrol, Wilton Police Department, Maine Forest Service, Department of Corrections, U.S. Marshals Service, Maine State Police Crisis Negotiation Team, and State Police Tactical Team.
Guy has been on the Massachusetts State Police Most Wanted list since July 8. He faces charges of murder and armed robbery in the shooting death of 25-year-old Bryan Omar Mendez of Worcester, Massachusetts, police said. The shooting happened in Lynn.
Guy has an extensive criminal history in the state of Massachusetts, including convictions for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
“I would say thank you,” Wilton Police Chief Heidi Wilcox said. “I am grateful for the help of the all the agencies. In a very small town like ours we are dependent upon our partnering agencies to help us in a circumstance like this. We are also dependent on the goodwill of the folks in the community and the help, and honestly of the press, too, because you are the ones who put it out there for us and got some of those tips coming in. S0 I am grateful for all of the people around us. I am especially grateful that he has been apprehended safely and without incident.
Franklin County Sheriff Scott Nichols Sr. also thanked the public for its help.
“There was a lot of anxiety out there the past 24 hours, and there has been a lot of communication back and forth by all three agencies,” he said. “We have been communicating with folks and basically keeping them updated and keeping their anxiety levels down. In kind, they have been very good at getting back to us with information, up-to-date information. Sometimes it was good, sometimes it wasn’t.
“We couldn’t do this job without the help from the public,” the sheriff said. “We couldn’t solve a thing. This is just one more example of that,” he said.
“I also want to give kudos one more time for the tactical unit for the job they did carrying all that heavy equipment in this hot weather,” Nichols said. “It was really a tough job. We are very fortunate in a county like ours to have these resources available to us. We appreciate all the state police brought to bear in during this entire event.”
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