2 men accused of kidnapping and threatening Penobscot County man

Two Whitefield men each face three felony charges for allegedly kidnapping and threatening the life of a 19-year-old Penobscot County man.

John Pagurko, 63, and his son-in-law Michael Davila Rodriguez, 30, were arrested by the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office on April 10 on charges of kidnapping, robbery and criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, according to the Kennebec Journal .

They allegedly invited the younger man to Whitefield by posing as Pagurko’s daughter, tied him up and threatened to kill him with a gun, the Kennebec Journal reported.

The daughter then looked through his phone to delete photos of herself.

Accounts of the kidnapping vary, but agree that Pagurko invited the 19-year-old to Whitefield using Pagurko’s daughter’s phone and bought him a bus ticket from Bangor to Augusta. He returned home on the bus, the newspaper reported.

Pagurko told investigators he brought the 19-year-old to the family home in Whitefield to scare him into no longer contacting his daughter, according to the newspaper. The younger man said in court documents he believed Pagurko and Rodriguez “were capable of killing him.”

The younger man arrived in Whitefield the day a protection from abuse order was served against him for Pagurko’s daughter. He was arrested April 3 for violating that order. Police also are investigating whether he sexually assaulted the daughter, but no charges have been filed yet, according to the Kennebec Journal.