The trial of an Ellsworth man involved in a 2023 police shooting that indirectly led to the city manager being fired is scheduled to happen this week in Hancock County.
Jeffrey S. Paine, 69, shot at Ellsworth police officers before they returned fire as they attempted to arrest him on a warrant on Dec. 23, 2023. The officers were not struck by Paine’s shot, but he was shot in the upper arm by Officer Josh Steward as they tried to take him into custody.
The shooting resulted months later in Glenn Moshier, who at the time held positions both as Ellsworth’s city manager and police chief, being fired from both jobs. Moshier was placed on leave as police chief days after the shooting and, after an investigation, was determined to likely have been intoxicated when he found out about the shooting and reported back to work that same night
Paine will receive a bench trial, meaning no jury will be seated and a judge will determine whether he is guilty. Paine is facing charges of attempted murder, reckless conduct with a firearm and criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon.
The trial is expected to last two days, starting on Thursday, June 12 and ending the next day.
The night of the shooting, Ellsworth police responded to a complaint at an apartment complex on Water Street and learned that Paine was being accused of harassing a neighbor. Paine already was facing an outstanding arrest warrant on suspicion of failing to stop for an officer and had previously expressed anti-police opinions, police have said.
Three officers arrived to take Paine into custody on the active arrest warrant and, when Paine opened his door, they saw he was armed, according to a separate investigation of the shooting by the state attorney general’s office. Paine tried to close the door on the officers, but police blocked him from doing so and, when they tried to push their way in, Paine’s revolver went off, striking a wall behind the officers, according to the AG report.
Steward fired four shots in response through a wall adjacent to the door, with one shot striking Paine in the arm. Paine then emerged from the apartment unarmed but “refused to comply” with the officers even after being warned they would use a stun gun on him, investigators wrote in the report. When he continued to not comply, another officer used a stun gun on Paine.
Paine then was taken into custody and was administered first aid before being taken to a local hospital for medical treatment.
The AG’s office determined that Steward was justified in shooting at Paine during the arrest.
