A Maine resident said his armed neighbors chopped down a tree to block him and his roommates from leaving their home because they believed they may have the coronavirus.
The Vinalhaven resident said he went outside Friday to look into why his cable service was not working and found a tree blocking the end of his road, the Knox County Sheriff’s Office said.
“While investigating the downed tree, a neighbor started yelling at him and a group of people showed up and began to gather around. Believing the group may be there to harm him, (he) fled to his residence and told his roommates what he had found,” the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post.
The three roommates used a VHF radio to contact the Coast Guard for help and a drone to monitor their neighbors’ whereabouts, the sheriff’s office said.
Law enforcement later determined that some residents believed the roommates needed to be quarantined, possibly because they were from New Jersey, where more than 13,000 people have become infected with the coronavirus.
None of the roommates showed symptoms of the virus, and the group has rented the home while working a construction job since September, deputies said.
“A group of local vigilantes decided to take matters into their own hands, and barricade these guys into their rental property,” State Rep. Genevieve McDonald, who represents the island town, said. “This is not something to be celebrated.”
