The Dover-Foxcroft Police Department issued an urgent shelter-in-place order on Friday evening for the vicinity of W. Main St., warning of an armed and dangerous suspect, launching an hours-long manhunt that led to the arrest of two convicted felons.
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The situation began early Friday morning around 6:30 a.m., when local police responded to an unspecified disturbance at 23 Country Meadows Ln. While responding, police found evidence that at least one person involved in the disturbance was involved in another unspecified incident in Bangor earlier the same morning.
An initial investigation revealed that two convicted felons, Ryan Mooreside, 36, of Shapleigh, and Dilan McDougal, 32, of Orrington, convicted felons were temporarily occupants of an apartment at the address.
Police allegedly confirmed that both felons were in illegal possession of firearms, and acquired a search-warrant for their apartment. They requested assistance from the Maine State Police Tactical Team to execute the warrant.
By the time the warrant was executed, Moorside, McDougal, and an unnamed female “associate” had fled the scene, and the search warrant was executed without incident.
On Friday evening, around 5:22 p.m. local police received a call for assistance at the Irving Gas Station on W. Main St. in Dover-Foxcroft, with reports of an alleged hostage situation.
When officers responded, they identified McDougal as one of the suspects allegedly involved in the hostage incident and took him into custody. Information obtained at the gas station indicated that Moorside had been at the scene, but subsequently fled with the female “associate,” and was armed.
Despite the suspected hostage situation, the police press release repeatedly refers to the woman with Moorside as his associate rather than his hostage, so it remains unclear whether she was with him voluntarily or against her will.
That incident sparked the shelter-in place order.
Throughout the night, starting at 8:28 p.m., police issued a series of four updates, warning that the suspect remained at large, and asking the public to report any sightings or suspicious activity.
Eventually, after hours of searching overnight for Moorside with help from the Maine State Police Tactical Team, law-enforcement received a tip he was hiding out in a wooded area between W. Main St. and the Piscataquis River. They discovered and arrested Moorside there and found his female associate, who was not taken into custody.
Moorside faces charges for criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, possession of a firearm by a prohibited individual, and a probation violation. He notably was not charged for kidnapping or holding a hostage, suggesting that the woman was possibly with him of her own free-will.
McDougal faces charges for a probation violation and drug-related offenses.
According to Rain Street, a website that compiles personal data, McDougal was previously arrested on drug trafficking charges, and was released in 2017, but the Maine Wire could not independently verify the information.
