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Bed Bugs Shut Down Maine City Hall After Angry Citizen Releases Them

A man angered that he didn't qualify for assistance took his revenge, slamming a cup on the counter of a municipal office and releasing an estimated 100 bedbugs, reports say.

By Cliff Pinckard

AUGUSTA, Maine -- A man angered that he didn't qualify for assistance took his revenge, slamming a cup on the counter of a municipal office and releasing an estimated 100 bedbugs, reports say.

The man's response on Friday forced officials to close the Augusta City Center for the day as exterminators were called in to kill the bedbugs, the Kennebec Journal reports.

According to the Journal, the man had been to the city offices earlier Friday to complain about his living situation. He had been told by a manager at a new apartment building he could not live there, so the man had come to the city offices seeking assistance.

"He whipped out a cup (full of live bedbugs) and slammed it on the counter, and bam, off they flew, maybe 100 of them," City Manager William Bridgeo tells the Journal.

Some of the bugs landed on an employee on the other side of the counter, reports say.

Police quickly caught the unidentified man are trying to determine if any charges will be filed.

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Caroline Cournoyer is GOVERNING's senior web editor.
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