By Emily Allen
Portland Press Herald, Maine
SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine — At first, witnesses told police they thought the two young males in gym clothes running toward the Liberty Commons housing complex were out for a jog.
But then one of the teens yanked a 52-year-old woman from her white Honda Civic and appeared to beat her before the duo stole her car and drove off, police said.
Police would later identify the teens as residents who had just escaped from the state’s only youth prison by jumping from the facility’s roof, according to court records filed last week. The pair would go on to lead police on a three-day manhunt involving multiple Maine agencies, as well as those from neighboring states. They stole at least three cars and crashed two.
Both face robbery, criminal threatening, assault and terrorizing charges for stealing the Civic, police said.
Davyn Flynn, 18, is being held at the Cumberland County Jail and faces several more charges by police in Biddeford, where he crashed a Dodge Magnum and was arrested on July 30, and in Scarborough, where he allegedly stole the vehicle. He also has been charged with one count of escape for breaking out of Long Creek Youth Development Center.
Flynn’s bail has been set at $50,000 cash, and he is not allowed to use money from any third parties. Defense attorneys referenced in his criminal file said they were unable to comment because they had not yet received notice that they were appointed.
The other suspect, a 16-year-old referred to as “J.M.” in court records, was arrested several hours before Flynn on July 30 after crashing a stolen Porsche in Georgetown, Massachusetts. The two teens had separated at that point.
It’s unclear whether the younger teen faces charges in Massachusetts or New Hampshire, where the Porsche was stolen. He was awaiting extradition from Massachusetts as of July 30 , but it is not known if he’s been brought back to Maine. South Portland police said they “do not know for sure.”
The Maine Department of Corrections, which oversees Long Creek and took over the investigation into the breakout, has refused to answer questions about the escape.
However, Flynn’s criminal case file contains statements from numerous officers involved in the search and his arrest. Police said the duo escaped by dragging a picnic table to a set of stairs in the yard, and then used it to climb on the roof and hop over a fence toward the front of the building.
Police said three residents were involved but one was stopped.
The breakout occurred around 7:30 p.m. on July 26 , according to a report from South Portland Detective Jonathan Stearns . Multiple officers arrived at Long Creek, not yet aware of how many residents were trying to escape.
Within minutes of their arrival, Stearns wrote that police learned about the carjacking at Liberty Commons, which is directly across from Long Creek. Police quickly determined that Flynn and the 16-year-old were suspects in the theft.
WOMAN IDENTIFIES ASSAILANT
The woman whose car was stolen had several bruises to her arms, shoulder, chest and ankle areas “from being forcibly removed from her vehicle,” police wrote. She later identified Flynn, using a recent mugshot from police, as the one who pulled her from her car. She told police that Flynn had threatened to shoot her with a gun.
“I am certain that it’s him,” she said of Flynn’s photo. Stearns said the woman “became almost visibly upset.”
The woman’s cellphone was still in her car when the teens drove off. Police were able to track the phone to a Burger King on Gorham Road, where they believe the suspects ditched the device. They also had tried to use her credit card at a Cumberland Farms on Woodford Street in Portland, police said.
Officers later found the abandoned Civic in Casco on July 28 , police said, with another vehicle that was stolen from a Portland home. Stearns doesn’t say if the teens are accused of stealing that car. He noted other vehicles in that area were burglarized and that the woman’s cards were found in a different car.
Police had reason to believe the suspects were at a residence on Middle Street in Biddeford that evening, around 10 p.m., according to court records, but when police arrived they were gone.
Both were arrested at different crash sites on July 30. The 16-year-old told police after his arrest that he last saw Flynn in Boston, but it’s unclear how they parted ways.
Flynn was at Long Creek after he was arrested July 19 in Portland and charged with domestic violence assault.
Police said he was staying with his ex-girlfriend, whom he was barred from contacting as a condition of his probation for a different matter related to his juvenile history. Police reported scratch marks on the young woman and believed Flynn was responsible.
He was brought to the Cumberland County Jail at the time. It’s unclear when or why he was transferred to Long Creek, and his former attorney, Amber Miller, did not answer requests to discuss the escape or his domestic violence charges.
TURMOIL AT YOUTH CENTER
The unusual breakout came months after an attempted escape in January, when nine boys armed with makeshift weapons left one of the prison’s buildings, but didn’t make it off the grounds. Since then, turmoil has persisted at Long Creek over a lack of staff and services, resulting in extended lockdown periods during which residents are mostly confined to their rooms.
One of the attorneys representing the teens, Sharon Craig, said she was concerned that after the escape Long Creek would implement more lockdowns and that would lead to more problems at the already overwhelmed prison.
The breakout was an outcome that Long Creek staff has been worried about since voicing concerns about being overworked, underpaid and understaffed, said the head of the Maine Service Employees Association, the union representing the facility’s supervisors and educational staff.
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