Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey has determined that the use of deadly force by a South Portland Police Officer that resulted in the death of a 47-year-old man in August 2023 was done in self-defense and was justified.
In his Feb. 17 letter to South Portland Police Chief Daniel Ahern, Attorney General Frey detailed his investigation and legal review of the the Aug. 25, 2023 use of deadly force incident.
South Portland Police officers Anthony Verville and Akos Szekely responded to the area of Summit Terrace in South Portland shortly after 4 a.m. on Aug. 25, 202 after receiving complaints of gunshots, according to Frey’s factual summary of the incident.
Officer Verville, while en route to the scene, learned that a female had called the police and reported that her husband, 47-year-old Christafer Dodge, “was not feeling right in the head” and had pushed her, and had gone for a gun, Frey wrote.
Frey added that Officer Verville got a report from the dispatcher indicated that Dodge was in the background and sounded very agitated, that there was a disabled adult living in the home, and that a black truck had been seen speeding away from the Summit Terrace apartment complex toward Southern Maine Community College.
Upon arrival at the Summit Terrace apartment, the female caller told the officers that Dodge had left with his AR-style rifle, and that she believed he was drinking and had been using cocaine, Frey wrote.
The officers also found three cartridge casings in the apartment, consistent with the female caller’s report that shots had been fired within the building.
At around 4:22 a.m., Officer Szekely observed Dodge’s black Ford pickup truck pull into the apartment’s parking lot at a high rate of speed, at which point both officers drew their weapons and told the female caller and another resident to stay within the apartment, Frey wrote.
According to Frey, Verville was armed with an AR 15 rifle and Szekely had drawn his pistol when they shouted to Dodge “Police!” and “Stop the car, it’s the police department! Get out with your hands up!”
While shouting their commands, Verville reportedly observed Dodge turning in the driver’s seat to face the two officers while raising a rifle in their direction, which caused Verville to shoot multiple rounds at Dodge.
Dodge died at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds, and police found his AR-style rifle next to him in the truck.
“Officer Verville later stated in an interview that there was no cover between him, Officer Szekely and the truck that Mr. Dodge was driving, giving him a clear line of sight,” Frey wrote. “[Verville] said he fired because he was in fear for his life, Officer Szekely’s life and the lives of the women in the apartment.”
Frey determined that Verville “reasonably believed” that Dodge posed an imminent threat of serious harm to himself, his fellow officer, and the residents of the apartment building behind them.
“Mr. Dodge not only threatened the officers with the rifle but put the residents of the building behind them at risk of serious harm,” Frey wrote. “All the facts and circumstances point to the conclusion that Officer Verville reasonably believed he was acting in the defense of himself and others at the time he used deadly force.”
