Homeless man accused of stealing police vehicles who was in police shootout misses third court hearing
May 17—PARIS — For the third time, an attempted initial court appearance was rescheduled for a homeless man who is accused of stealing two police vehicles and being involved in a shootout with nearly a dozen police last week.
Gary Porter, 37, was scheduled to appear in South Paris District Court by videoconference Friday from York County Jail, where he is being held without bail.
He has been charged with six felonies stemming from a series of events on May 6 that started with his alleged escape from custody outside of Oxford County Jail.
Porter was scheduled for initial court appearances twice last week, but was deemed by the presiding judges to be unable to participate in a meaningful way.
On Friday, his attorney, Justin Leary, said he met with his client in the morning.
Judge Sarah Churchill asked whether Porter was "in a sufficient condition" to proceed with the court hearing.
Leary said he was.
But Churchill learned that York County Jail lacked the staffing to enable Porter to appear by Zoom at Friday's initial appearance.
That hearing was rescheduled for Monday, when an effort will be made for a fourth time to have Porter make his first court appearance on the new charges.
Leary said: "I'd say we're not going to be contesting any argument about bail and we're not going to contest the state's motion to revoke on the earlier case."
He added that he had filed a motion for mental evaluations for mental competency and to determine whether Porter suffered from an abnormal condition of mind at the time of his alleged criminal conduct.
Porter had been arrested May 6 on a warrant charging a bail violation and taken to a Norway hospital due to concerns about his health.
After taking him from the hospital to Oxford County Jail for booking, police said he commandeered a police pickup truck while handcuffed and wearing a hospital gown.
After a police pursuit, he crashed the truck on Route 117. He then stole a second law enforcement vehicle after a shootout with 11 law enforcement officers and was arrested after crashing it also, according to a police report.
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