U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is detaining a reserve Old Orchard Beach police officer from Jamaica.
Jon Luke Evans is being detained at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility in Massachusetts.
He’s the second law enforcement officer in Maine detained by ICE, allegedly for an expired visa and trying to buy a firearm.
Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement accuses Old Orchard Beach Police knowingly employing a so-called undocumented worker from Jamaica.
“Jon Luke Evans not only broke U.S. immigration law, but he also illegally attempted to purchase a firearm. The fact that a police department would hire an illegal alien and unlawfully issue him a firearm while on duty would be comical if it weren’t so tragic,” ICE Boston Director Patricia Hyde said.
“To be accused of being reckless, I’m highly disappointed that someone would think that the police department, the town of Old Orchard, would do that,” Old Orchard Beach Police Chief Elise Chard said.
Chard said the federal government verified Evans and cleared him to work through the Department of Homeland Security’s E-Verify program.
“We did what we were supposed to do,” Chard said. “And I believe that the documents he gave us, we did the verification as we would have with anybody else.”
“It’s shedding bad light upon her, and him. And it’s making him look out to be a criminal,” Brent Kinney, who hired Evans to work as a security officer for OOB Pier, said.
Two years ago, Kinney hired Evans for security on the pier.
“He’s kind. He’s polite. He’ll treat you with respect. He is one of the hardest working people I’ve ever met in my life,” Kinney said. “And this should not have been done to him.”
Chard said Evans was doing a great job and that all reserve officers are issued a firearm while on duty.
She hopes the court finds no wrongdoing, so the young man can get on with his life.
ICE has still not said what specific charges Evans faces. CBS 13 reached out again Thursday to ask that question, but ICE hasn’t responded. It’s unclear whether Evans has an attorney.
