Police: Disgruntled man throws cup of bedbugs in city offices

AUGUSTA, Maine -- A disturbing situation forced an entire city building in Maine to close.

Police said a disgruntled resident threw a cup of bedbugs at a general assistance counter on Friday.

"It was extremely shocking," Director of Development Services Matt Nazar told WMTW.

Police said the man was unhappy with his housing.

"Our general assistance staff member initially thought it was coffee grounds that he had dumped on the counter. And then some of the coffee grounds started moving," Nazar said.

The workers immediately began scooping up and bagging bugs.

"There were some that were crawling on the counter. Some were dead. So there were well in excess of 100 live and dead bugs that some, like I said were crawling away," Nazar said.

Police said the man tried to leave, but officers stopped him outside in the parking lot.

Pest control was called to treat the office with the bedbugs and the rest of the building.

On Monday, a bedbug detector was brought into the building to check the area before they opened it back up to the public.