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US police officer with police robot in San Jose in May 2021: The robot operation of the police in Dixmont, Maine, on June 28, 2018 was far less successful than that of this California colleague
Photo: Philip Pacheco/Getty Images
No one could have guessed the dramatic outcome when, on June 28, 2018, the elderly gentleman stepped outside his house in his underwear at the calls of the Dixmont, Maine, police force gathered in front of his house and asked if they were the “real police”.
It could have saved everyone a lot if there had been a quick, nonviolent take on Michael Grendell before the 20-hour siege, before the shooting.
And especially before the police robot blew up Grendell's house.
Grendell, 65, would later be awarded $400,000 in damages in November 2020 as part of an out-of-court settlement for the consequences of the disastrous police operation that day.
It is the maximum amount allowed by law for lawsuits against government organizations.
The "Bangor Daily News" now reported on this agreement.
The momentous operation began after a neighbor reported to the police on June 28, 2018 that Grendell had shot him the day before.
When the police arrived at his property, Grendell later explained, he was in a mental crisis.
The neighbor, as was later explained in the court case, had also pointed out Grendell's psychological problems when he called and pleaded with the police officers not to hurt his neighbor.
But Grendell apparently refused to cooperate with the police and confronted the law enforcement officers not only in his underwear, but also with his dog on a leash and a US Civil War-era rifle slung over his shoulder - after which a firefight broke out.
Grendell sustained two gunshot wounds to the face and torso.
Finally, after a 20-hour siege, the police officers decided to have a robot deliver a "breaking charge" that would rip open a wall and allow the house to be stormed.
It was a tactic that had never been tried before in Maine -- and may not be again, since the police there have refrained from using the agent again since the 2018 use.
Because instead of part of a wall, the bomb brought the house down completely: after the detonation, the roof was practically on the ground.
In the ensuing trial, Grendell refused to testify about the allegation of grossly negligent use of a firearm.
All other charges were dropped in 2018.
After two years, he was finally awarded damages for the vandalization of his home.
Grendell himself said in an interview with the Bangor Daily News that he wanted to build again on the property.
But in 2021 - whether out of skepticism about the chances of success or due to bad memories - Grendell bought another house after all.
In the neighboring town of Bangor.
dak/AP