Crossroads
By

Barry Leibowitz /

CBS News/ November 27, 2012, 8:36 AM

Driver's ed teacher charged in BB gun shooting spree

Dennis Maylin, booking photo

/ Gardner Police via CBS Boston
(CBS) GARDNER, Mass. - A Massachusetts driver's ed teacher has been arrested in connection with a four-month BB gun shooting spree.

Police say they caught up with Dennis Maylin at his home in Gardner, and found a loaded CO2 BB pistol and BB projectiles in his car, CBS Boston reported.

On Wednesday, after a window was shot out at the Auto Zone in the central Massachusetts town, police immediately headed over to Maylin's house. Arriving officers say they spotted Maylin, 52, who is co-owner of a Fitchburg Driver Education School, pulling his training car into his driveway.

Seeing police, Maylin allegedly jumped out of his car while it was still in motion, and tried to escape. He was quickly captured, according to CBS Boston.

Maylin was among a handful of suspects in the case, and officers had him under surveillance. In the past four months, more than 30 commercial plate glass windows and doors in Gardner were shot out with a BB gun.

Two windows of passing cars were also shot out. One of those cars had a child seated inside. A second involved a driver who had his window blown out on Route 2 on Nov. 18. That driver was hit in the face by a projectile.

Gardner police are working with several other nearby towns to see if there's a connection to BB incidents there.

Maylin is charged with malicious destruction of property over $250 and failing to stop on the signal of a police officer. Detectives expect he'll face additional charges.

© 2012 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
10 Comments Add a Comment
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mcloving626 says:
What are people thinking when they do things like this and they wonder why they get shot by police. Its just common sense

http://www.airsplat.com/airsoft-safety.htm
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ForeverMelissa1 says:
Awkward.. This was my drivers ed teacher. I knew this guy was a lune.
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Kim_L_Short says:
This story doesn't surprise me a bit. In fact, it's about average for the Twin Cities area.

I lived in Fitchburg for ten years from the late 80's to the late 90's and I'll never forget the area. At least once a week I'd see behavior that truly speaks to the character of the area's parents, behavior I've never seen in any other community I've lived in, before or since then.

It's the only place where I regularly saw bumper stickers proudly announcing, "My kid beat up your honor student."

I woke up to see five teenagers fighting in front of my house at two in the morning to decide who is the rightful owner of a girl named "Leslie."

I once looked in my rear view mirror to witness a steroid bloated sociopath with a tire iron staring down a nerdy looking motorist at the intersection of Route 12 and Bemis Rd.

Two days after Christmas, 1997 some wedge shaped lunatic was screaming at a motorist in front of Staples on Route 12 to get out of his car and "Be a man!!"

I once showed a house to a woman who counseled single mothers and pregnant teenagers. She vented some of her frustration by admitting something you never hear in the news. Most of the girls she counseled intentionally got pregnant because it was the only way to break up with their boyfriends without risking their lives.

I was once pushing a stroller with two toddlers in it near the intersection of Wanoosnoc Rd. and Canton St. when a golf ball sized rock bounced off the pavement a couple of feet to my left. When I looked back to see where it came from, a couple of middle school aged boys heading in to use the FLLAC swimming pool about two hundred feet away were grinning ear to ear. The fact that they could have killed a two year old didn't appear to bother them.

I now wish that I'd kept a journal because incidents like these were as common as flies in an outhouse.
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Ren_1 says:
Wow i hate when people like this ruin the game for others . There are actually real players out there who play with the airsoft guns. People who purchase these airsoft guns should really look into the safety before purchasing the airsoft guns. I went to this awesome website to help me out when i got my first bb gun http://www.airsplat.com/airsoft-safety.htm. people should really take time to read safety on these equipments before purchasing them and doing something dumb like this dude.
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Ren_1 says:
Wow i hate when people like this ruin the game for others . There are actually real players out there who play with the airsoft guns. People who purchase these airsoft guns should really look into the safety before purchasing the airsoft guns. I went to this awesome website to help me out when i got my first bb gun http://www.airsplat.com/airsoft-safety.htm. people should really take time to read safety on these equipments before purchasing them and doing something dumb like this dude.
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Ren_1 says:
Wow i hate when people like this ruin the game for others . There are actually real players out there who play with the airsoft guns. People who purchase these airsoft guns should really look into the safety before purchasing the airsoft guns. I went to this awesome website to help me out when i got my first bb gun http://www.airsplat.com/airsoft-safety.htm. people should really take time to read safety on these equipments before purchasing them and doing something dumb like this dude.
reply
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Ren_1 says:
Wow i hate when people like this ruin the game for others . There are actually real players out there who play with the airsoft guns. People who purchase these airsoft guns should really look into the safety before purchasing the airsoft guns. I went to this awesome website to help me out when i got my first bb gun http://www.airsplat.com/airsoft-safety.htm. people should really take time to read safety on these equipments before purchasing them and doing something dumb like this dude.
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mveyes says:
I am horrified by this!! I trusted this man with my daughter during drivers ed... I just don't understand what goes on in peoples heads!! I hope his family is ok.
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mveyes replies:
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and that the people injured in the car shoots are doing well!!! that must have been so frightening!
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txsunshyne says:
Good grief! What is wrong with people?
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