Staff Writer

A Kennebunk man was arrested last week on three warrants a month after not appearing to serve his jail sentence.

Dale George Griffith, 40, is being held at York County Jail after not reporting to jail on March 26. He will remain incarcerated for the next six months, said Kennebunk Police Lt. Russ French.

Kennebunk police arrested Griffith on April 20 on three warrants, including one for theft by unauthorized taking stemming from an alleged April 13 purse snatching at Garden Street Market, one for failing to report for a jail sentence and for violating bail conditions stemming from an alleged Jan. 22 robbery of the Saco Mini Mart, according to French.

Griffith was supposed to report to jail in March after being convicted Feb. 19 for an Aug. 30, 2009 charge of operating after habitual offender revocation – driving with a suspended license multiple times – but he did not show up at the York County Jail. According to York County District Attorney Mark Lawrence, Griffith’s bail was revoked and arrest warrants were sent to local law enforcement officers.

 “I expect he’s facing some very serious charges, we’re looking to prosecute to the fullest extent,” Lawrence said.

Griffith currently faces charges ranging from burglary and theft to aggravated assault and is described as a “chronic offender” by Sgt. David Loranger of the Saco Police Department.

Since 1999, when he was 30 years old, Griffith has made 22 appearances in York County Superior Court, according to court records. Most appearances were to face more than one charge.

Griffith allegedly used an ax-like weapon to break into a hotel room rented by a relative of his 20-year-old family member shortly before midnight on Feb. 2. Saco police said Griffith allegedly demanded the woman’s prescription medication and threatened to hurt her. Griffith hit himself in the chest with his weapon after he and the woman had a brief fight, police said.

A few hours later, in the early morning hours of Feb. 3, Griffith allegedly broke into Saco Inn and Suites where his 20-year-old relative was staying, according to police. She was being treated at a local hospital and was not in the room at the time.

When she returned from the hospital, police said Griffith allegedly threatened to kill her and attacked her with a knife. The young woman suffered a large cut behind her ear and small lacerations across the top of her head made with a box cutter type knife, according to Saco police.

When police arrived, the relative was covered in blood and taken to Southern Maine Medical Center, but Griffith was nowhere to be found.

Police located Griffith later that afternoon and charged him with criminal threatening with a weapon, aggravated assault and violating previous bail conditions that he have no contact with the relative and not commit another criminal act.

A few weeks later on Feb. 19, Griffith was sentenced in York County Superior Court to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine for the August 2009 habitually offender conviction. He was released on bail and was to begin his sentence March 26.

When he didn’t show up for his jail sentence, warrants were filed for his arrest.

According to court records, after a bail hearing on March 18 involving a burglary arrest at the Saco Mini Mart, Griffith left York County Superior Court without paying bail. Saco police arrested him a few hours later for allegedly stealing a shopping cart full of food, violating his conditions of release and resisting arrest, according to Loranger.

Griffith spent four days in jail and was released March 22, four days before he was supposed to show up as a condition of his six-month sentence, according to Capt. Leo Rogers of the York County Sheriffs Office.

Biddeford Deputy Police Chief JoAnne Fisk said Biddeford police arrested Griffith last August on criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon and violation of bail conditions. Griffith pleaded guilty to criminal threatening in December and paid a $300 fine.

“He’s a known face,” Fisk said.

He is expected to make his initial court appearance on May 21 on charges from the alleged Feb. 2 and Feb. 3 attacks.

Lt. Anthony Bean Burpee of the Kennebunk Police Department said Griffith is a “habitual offender.”

Since June of last year, Griffith has been charged with nine counts of violating conditions of release and eight felony charges, according to York County Court documents.

“There seems to be a lot of plea bargains,” Burpee said.

Staff Writer Suzanne Hodgson can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 233.