Paris police Chief Michael Madden is scheduled to appear in court after being arrested and charged with operating under the influence last Friday, according to the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office. 

Madden, 50, was arrested on Wiley Road in Naples shortly after midnight Nov. 21 by a patrol officer, Chief Deputy Naldo Gagnon said.

The Cumberland County District Attorney’s office is prosecuting the case and has impounded the patrol officer’s log of Madden’s arrest.

Madden is scheduled to appear for his arraignment in Bridgton District Court on Jan. 20, after which the results of a blood-alcohol test will be released, Gagnon said. 

Madden, who lives in Harrison, was reportedly following another vehicle when he was pulled over for operating erratically. An officer conducted a field sobriety test, though the report did not indicate whether Madden failed it. He was taken to the Bridgton Police Department where he was booked and posted bail, Gagnon said. Madden cooperated, he said. No booking photo was taken.

Asked about Madden’s employment status, Ryan Lorrain, chairman of the Paris Board of Selectmen, said he was aware of the situation and had talked to Town Manager Amy Bernard, but, “It’s a personnel matter. I can’t comment further than that,” Lorrain said.

Bernard declined to tell the Sun Journal what Madden’s current employment status is with the town other than to say, “The chief is currently out on accrued vacation leave.”

In an interview in her office Wednesday morning, Bernard said that it is town policy not to discuss personnel matters and referred all questions about possible disciplinary action to the town attorney, Matthew Tarasevich, who did not immediately return a message.

Madden is scheduled to return to work Saturday, Bernard said. 

Madden has worked in law enforcement for 29 years and was hired as the town’s police chief in October 2013, leaving his job as deputy chief in Shelton, Conn., a city of more than 39,000 people about an hour northeast of New York City. 

He was hired after a months-long national search.

Madden is a graduate of St. Joseph’s College in Standish, with a bachelor’s degree in communication, and a 2008 graduate of the FBI National Academy.

Before his hiring, the Paris Police Department had been in turmoil for more than a year. In June 2012, a proposal to merge the Paris and Norway departments was defeated by Paris voters. Controversy over the merger vote coincided with the resignations of a number of veteran Paris officers, including police Chief David Verrier.