THOMASTON — Stephen James Little Jr., 35, made his first court appearance early Wednesday afternoon, Dec. 13, 2023, in Knox County District Court.

Little is accused of creating a police standoff on Monday, Dec. 11, 2023, after showing up at his sister’s house unannounced and kicking in her bedroom door while she was sleeping, court documents said.

Once in the bedroom, Little, who had been released from prison four days prior, allegedly punched his sister’s boyfriend and threatened to kill both the sister and the boyfriend. According to a police affidavit written by Police Chief Tim Hoppe, the sister’s 911 audio just prior to 7:37 a.m. picked up recording of Little in the background saying that he had a gun, and the sister repeated to dispatch that Little had said he had a gun.

Hoppe arrived on scene and knocked on the door. A male voice told Hoppe to go away after saying, “I’m not responsible for what happens,” documents said.

Hoppe reported that he was then able to see the sister stick her head out a rear window and encouraged her and the boyfriend to escape through that window, which they did. When asked by Hoppe if the two had actually seen guns, they replied in the negative, but said they saw three knives.

“That doesn’t mean it wasn’t there,” said Hoppe, in a follow-up interview Dec. 14. “We just never found one.”

Because Little was barricaded with weapons or claims of weapons, after half an hour of waiting for Little to exit the house as directed by the two on-duty Thomaston police officers, Hoppe went ahead and requested additional units as well as the Maine State Police Tactical and Negotiation Team.

For at least 11 hours, the portion of Pleasant Street surrounding the house was closed to vehicular and pedestrian traffic while Rockland and Thomaston police surrounded the house and Maine State Police tactical Team members made attempts to open a dialog with Little, and ultimately, to draw him from the house.

Three attempts were made to get a cellphone to him, but he either wouldn’t take the phone, or wouldn’t answer it.

“They tried every possible way for him to just answer the phone, and just come out peacefully,” said Hoppe.

Instead, Little heavily wrecked the house, according to Hoppe. He smashed windows, including the front window that overlooks the street where the police units gathered. Inside with him were a dog and a couple of cats.

None were harmed by Little, though police never saw the cats during or after the incident.

Because of the threat of danger to responding units, the nearby public and to Little, Thomaston EMS was requested to stage nearby at-the-ready.

Soon after, police also requested a similar staging by Rockland EMS. With Thomaston’s one ambulance tied up with the standoff, Waldoboro EMS covered the Thomaston ambulance station to answer any medical calls that might come in.

Rockland, which has three ambulances, relied upon its on-call roster to assist with some of the Rockland calls. And, the interim director of Maine EMS made the decision to call in LifeFlight of Maine, which landed an airplane for staging at the Knox County Regional Airport.

“You just don’t know what’s going to go on,” said Hoppe.

Hoppe couldn’t begin to guess a true ballpark figure for the price of this standoff to taxpayers, but said that the cost easily tops $70,000.

Just prior to 6:45 p.m., the tactical team forced access into the house and used non-life threatening measures to subdue and seize Little.

Pepper bombs stifled the interior with fumes thick enough to force Little out of the house. As Little was coming out a door, a Tactical Team K9 grabbed him on the leg, and then he went down the stairs. The dog bite generated an injury that required medical attention.

After taking Little into custody, Hoppe requested and received a search warrant to look for the weapons that Little claimed to be carrying. At 8 p.m., Pleasant Street reopened for regular use, thus allowing displaced neighbors – some of whom sat in their vehicles next to the ambulances for many hours during the ordeal – to finally go home.

Hoppe said he was pleased with the final outcome, though he feels bad that the sister’s dog was subjected to the pepper spray.

About 15 years ago, Hoppe was involved in a standoff that forced him to shut down Thomaston’s Main Street. Like this one, the previous one ended safely. However, Wednesday’s incident lasted much longer. Through the majority of Wednesday’s event, Rockland’s police chief and deputy chief were at his side, helping as needed.

Hoppe referred to Little as being “a resident of the State for most of his life.” Prior to Wednesday, Little was on probation after being convicted of Aggravated Assault on December 28, 2021 and December 20, 2021. He was convicted of Criminal Threatening with a dangerous weapon, and Domestic Violence Terrorizing on December 20, 2021. Prior to that, there were charges of sex crimes.

Because of the standoff, Hoppe sought charges for Assault, Criminal Threatening, Domestic Violence Criminal Threatening, and Police Standoff. Little is scheduled to return to court February 8, 2024.

Cash bail was set at $25,000, not to be paid by a third party. He is not to use or possess any firearms or dangerous weapons, and he is not to have contact with his sister or her boyfriend.

Click here to view the initial standoff article.

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com