Man Sentenced for Shooting at Repossessors Girlfriend and Child

“The bullet was recovered inside the seat. Another bullet hole was found several inches from where the child’s head would have been in the vehicle.”

Spencer Stone claimed to be unaware that he car was being repossessed when he charged from his downtown Bar Harbor apartment armed with a .45-caliber handgun that Friday night. Pumping out four rounds into a vehicle of a woman he claimed to police that he was having a dispute with, he could have killed the girlfriend of the repossession agent and her eight-year-old child in the backseat. For his reckless behavior, he has been sentenced.

The incident began in a densely populated neighborhood in Bar Harbor, Maine at 9:50pm on Friday November 12, 2021, as an unnamed repossession agent was completing the recovery of a vehicle securing a delinquent auto loan registered to 22-year-old Spencer Stone.

Stone claimed that he was unaware that he car was being repossessed when he stepped outside of his residence armed with a handgun that night. Instead, he offered the irrational explanation that he was having a dispute with a woman and that he had fired the four rounds at what he thought was her vehicle.

But that vehicle just happened to be occupied by the girlfriend of the repossession agent that was following him as he was departing with Stone’s car. And in the backseat, her eight-year-old child. After all, who doesn’t bring an eight-year-old child along with them on an involuntary repossession on a Friday night. What could go wrong?

According to District Attorney Matthew Foster; “One bullet was found to have penetrated the center rear of the driver’s seat but had slowed enough (after presumably going through the metal body of the car) to not exit the front of the seat where the driver was seated.

“The bullet was recovered inside the seat. Another bullet hole was found several inches from where the child’s head would have been in the vehicle. I don’t know how the occupants of the vehicle were uninjured.” He reported back in 21’.

Arrested, Stone was charged with attempted murder, two counts of reckless conduct with a firearm, one count of criminal mischief with a dangerous weapon, and a misdemeanor charge of discharging of firearm near a dwelling. On February 10, 2022, a Hancock County Grand Jury indicted him on the attempted murder charges as well as the others.

But last week, Stone pleaded guilty to the two counts of reckless conduct with a firearm, a Class C felony, one count of criminal mischief with a dangerous weapon, a Class C felony, and discharge of firearm near a dwelling, which is a misdemeanor. The charges of attempted murder, which would have carried a 30-year sentence, were dismissed following a judicial conference.

It was decided in this conference that the court’s opinion was that the state would likely have difficulty proving the element of intent to murder, said District Attorney Robert Granger. “Stone maintained that he never intended to shoot anyone but wanted to stop the vehicle.”

Man Sentenced for Shooting at Repossessors Girlfriend and Child — 22-year-old Spencer Stone

“I am very happy with the result that ADA Staples achieved,” Granger added. “I feel the outcome was fair in view of the circumstances.

“Hopefully Mr. Stone now appreciates the grave danger he created by firing multiple rounds in downtown Bar Harbor, and also appreciates the long-lasting ramifications his actions that night will have on the victims. It is also noteworthy that except for a very limited number of circumstances it is unlawful to use deadly force solely to protect property in Maine.”

Granger reported that Stone was sentenced to five years in prison with all but two years suspended, with two years of probation to follow his release. Stone has no prior criminal record.

Stone was also ordered to pay restitution for the damage done to the vehicle that he shot up.

Source: The Ellsworth American

Editors Note: There is no mention anywhere if charges of child endangerment for bringing a child on a repossession were brought against the mother.