Two Former Police Officers Jailed After Admitting To Beating 11 Porcupines To Death While On Duty
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Two former police officers have been sentenced to prison after pleading guilting to beating almost a dozen porcupines to death.
Addison Cox, 28, and Michael Rolerson, 31, of the Rockland Maine Police Department, admitted to bludgeoning 11 animals with their batons while on duty.
According to the Bangor Daily News, the pair were sentenced to jail time on Thursday (15 July).
Rolerson was sentenced to 270 days in jail with 20 days suspended and community service, while Cox received 90 days with 10 days suspended plus community service.
Both men were also slapped with a $1,000 fine.
Court documents seen by the publication stated that Cox will serve his time during the weekends while Rolerson is expected to begin his sentence in January.
District Attorney Natasha Irving explained that Rolerson received the harsher sentence because he was the senior officer and killed more of the animals.
However, Irving said, their charges were reduced because both men were military veterans and had served active duty.
Rolerson had told the authorities he had suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of his service in the Marine Corps in Afghanistan, the same as Cox.
Both men are also receiving treatment from the Veterans' Administration.
Irving said: "That was a mitigating factor, that they both experienced war zones.
"Ultimately I want them never to hurt another living thing again... I think that addressing the mental health component, I think that's a really important part of it."
Rolerson and Cox's violence, which occurred in June last year, was reported to police by a fellow officer.
According to a report by Maine Game Warden investigator Kevin Anderson, Rolerson estimated he killed eight porcupines and Cox said he killed three.
A video was posted in early June, in which Rolerson can be seen beating something on the ground with his baton before returning to his police car, saying, 'I got him'.
A photo was then posted on social media of a dead porcupine.
Both men were fired from their positions last September.
Another officer claimed he was in a car with Rolerson on one occasion when Rolerson stopped the car suddenly, got out and clubbed a porcupine. He told the authorities that he didn't know what to do.
In a post to the department's Facebook page in 2018, it was announced that Cox had been awarded its life-saving award for responding to a stabbing.
In the same post, the department made reference to the fact that he was also known as 'raccoon whisperer,' and had also helped a skunk remove its head from a jar of peanut butter.
