A Somerset County sheriff’s deputy who is barred from possessing weapons is on unpaid leave.
Deputy Stephen “Dan” Armiger was issued a temporary weapons restriction order, also known as the “yellow-flag law,” on Aug. 18. It was unclear if Armiger was on leave when the Bangor Daily News first reported on the weapons restriction on Thursday.
Somerset County Sheriff Dale Lancaster did not respond to the BDN on Thursday when asked if Armiger was on leave from the office. He could not be reached by phone and his voicemail box was full. He also did not respond to an email.
The next day, Lancaster told the Kennebec Journal that Armiger is on administrative leave without pay and that it is an ongoing personnel matter.
Lancaster did not respond to additional emails from the BDN on Monday.
The weapons restriction order was extended for 90 days on Oct. 10, Somerset County District Attorney Maeghan Maloney said. The extended order will be in place until the start of 2026.
Armiger’s case is the first time it’s been publicly known that a law enforcement officer is the subject of a yellow flag order.
The temporary restriction was issued the same day the Maine State Police responded to a dispute involving Armiger. Troopers went to a home in Detroit shortly before 2 a.m. that day at the request of the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office because the dispute involved a deputy, Maine State Police spokesperson Shannon Moss said.
The case was sent to the district attorney’s office, Moss said. There is no evidence of criminal conduct from Armiger, Maloney said.
Armiger started full time at the sheriff’s office in March 2017 before graduating from the Maine Criminal Justice Academy in May 2018, according to a transcript from the academy. There are no disciplinary records.
