Photographer gets the picture and the suspect

Several police agencies are lauding a Sun Journal photographer for tackling a suspect who jumped from a third-floor balcony to escape the officers pursuing him.

Photographer Russ Dillingham was credited with helping police capture 35-year-old Norman Thompson of Lewiston as Thompson tried to flee from police and federal agents.



"We never would have caught this guy without Russ," said Lewiston police Detective Sgt. Adam Higgins. "He was able to take pictures, tackle the guy and then hold him for us."

For a week, investigators from Lewiston, Auburn and the Maine State Police as well as the Maine Warden Service had been searching for Thompson on charges that he stole several vehicles and led police on chases around the county.



After he was arrested, Thompson was taken to Central Maine Medical Center where he was treated for injuries suffered in his jump. Police said it appeared Thompson had sprained at least one of his ankles.

Dillingham says he acted on instinct. "I always kind of wondered what I'd do in a situation like that," he says. "But you don't even think about it. You just react."