A Little Misunderstanding Goes A Long Way...
Enough misunderstanding to go around...
The man was sleeping (works the night shift) and was woken up by the tree trimmers. I'm sure he was not in the best frame of mind; probably a little bit more than rankled. Throws on a pair of jeans, runs out of the house and begins a very terse conversation with the trimming crew.
The trimming crew was hired to cut branches away from utility lines, a very common thing in a rural state, and they trim during the day. Since utility work is governed by the PUC and the run of utility lines is considered public domain, the trimming crew has authority to go on private property without permission to trim.
So, here is a trimming crew confronted by an angry (and most likely very animated) resident, then someone spots the tattoo, which wouldn't have been visible otherwise. The tattoo is actually a well-done representation of the real thing. The trimming crew panics...and by panics...it appears that whatever they said to the 911 folks caused the sheriff to bring out the heavy guns.
Now everyone involved should feel ashamed of themselves, especially since this went national.
And the sheriff should have use this as a "teachable moment", reminding the public that open carry of guns is legal in Maine, but one's behavior may reasonably cause others to feel unsafe.
