Perez indicted in February courthouse bomb threat

Perez

Stroud

ALFRED, Maine - The man who was convicted in February in the beating of a Berwick man outside Trains Tavern in January 2012 has been indicted in a bomb threat incident that occurred on the day he was originally to have been sentenced.
The York County Sheriff’s Office alleges that Gilbert Perez, 30, of Acton, and an accomplice, Bert Stroud, 26, of Saco, conspired to make the bomb threat, presumably so that Perez would not have to go to jail that day, revealed YCSO Chief Deputy William L. King Jr. at a news conference last week.
Investigators say Stroud called in the bomb threat at the urging of Perez, and that Perez provided Stroud with heroin to make the telephone call. 
On February 10 at 08:39, a call was made to the Gray Dispatch Center, according to officials. The caller stated that a bomb had been placed in the York County Superior Courthouse in Alfred.  
As a result of that call, the courthouse was evacuated, court was canceled and county services were disrupted.  Perez was to have been sentenced that day.
The investigation included a review of the scheduled court proceedings, interviews and analysis of the audio recordings.
The investigation further concluded that Perez urged him to make the bomb threat, watched him make the call, and supervised the destruction of the cell phone. 
The investigation, which included numerous interviews, cellular technology and review of surveillance videos, led to Stroud and Perez being identified as suspects, King said.   
Stroud has entered a guilty plea to a class C Terrorizing (causing evacuation), and is awaiting sentencing. The Class C Terrorizing charge carries a maximum penalty of 60 months incarceration and up to a $5,000 fine and restitution.
Perez, who is currently incarcerated at the York County Jail on the previous assault conviction, was served with a warrant for class C Terrorizing (causing evacuation).
The York County District Attorney’s Office was directly affected by this bomb threat and therefore prosecutors from the Maine Attorney General’s Office will prosecute the case. 

The indictment was handed down earlier this month.

An indictment is not an indication of guilt, only that enough evidence has been gathered to warrant a trial.
Perez, meanwhile, who began his five-month jail term at York County Jail in Alfred later in February, is on a deferred sentence in connection with his chase in Milton Mills several years ago in which former Milton Police Office Andy Crone was severely injured and left unable to continue his career in law enforcement.
Crone is now on the Milton School Board and active in the Nute Ridge Bible Chapel Awana program.



In March 2011 then-Officer Crone stopped Perez after he ran a stop sign at Church Street in Milton Mills, and as Crone approached Perez’ truck, he reportedly sped down Willey Road toward Wakefield.
Crone pursued Perez in a high-speed chase but lost control of his cruiser and struck a tree in Wakefield.
Crone was airlifted to Maine Medical Center in Portland, where he was treated for a broken leg and fractured ribs.