by Gina Hamilton
Coastal Journal staff

WARREN - An inmate at the Maine State Prison took two people hostage on Monday afternoon, but surrendered later that night after a seven-hour standoff. 

The hostage-taking incident unfolded at 2:30 p.m. Monday inside the the state prison, until it was resolved shortly before 10 p.m. after state police tactical teams and negotiators with the Department of Corrections had spent hours at the scene.

Michael Chasse, age 33 of Lewiston, held two individuals - a prison worker and a fellow inmate - at knifepoint.  Both hostages were released without significant injury, according to Denise Lord, associate commissioner for the state Department of Corrections.  She did not disclose the names of either hostage by presstime.

At one point, hostage negotiators were brought into the process, achieving limited contact with Chasse.

Chasse had originally been convicted of breaking into the home of the brother of then-Defense Secretary Bill Cohen in 1997. Chasse later escaped during his trial by throwing laundry detergent in the eyes of a sheriff and chief deputy.

Chasse was armed with a knife in 1997 when he broke into the home of Robert Cohen in Brewer. He was shot by Cohen during the burglary, and was sentenced to 12 years in prison on charges related to that incident.

He was ordered to serve an additional 14 years for charges related to his escape outside the Piscataquis County Superior Court during his trial in 1998.

After fleeing on foot, Chasse broke into a home and stole a butcher knife, threatening the woman who lived in the house.  Later, he stabbed Sheriff John Goggin and Deputy Dale Clukey, then fled in a stolen pickup truck. He left the truck, broke into two camps on Sebec Lake, and finally was apprehended in a canoe on the lake.

"I'm thankful that the crisis has ended without loss of life," Gov. John Baldacci said Monday night.

The facility in Warren is Maine’s largest prison, serving over 900 inmates and employing over 400 people.  In addition to the medium-security facility, Maine State Prison also houses a supermax facility for maximum-security inmates.

Chasse had been out of the supermax part of the prison for only six months before this most recent incident, after spending much of the last eight years there, according to an interview in May with the Boston Phoenix. 

Monday’s hostage incident was the first of its kind at the six-year old prison.  However, at least one other conspiracy to take hostages was known prior to this week’s incident.  In 2006, the wife of convicted murderer Gary Watland was caught trying to smuggle a loaded gun into the facility.  Watland planned to take captives in the visitor’s area and threaten to kill them unless he was released.  Another inmate tipped off police, and both Watland and his wife Susan were subsequently convicted for their roles in the plot.