WELLS — A former Maine police chief has been arrested on sexual assault charges.

Police say Carl E. Smith, of Eddington, the former police chief in Howland, was arrested early Saturday morning in Wells on four counts of gross sexual assault.

Wells police say the 72-year-old Smith was considered armed and dangerous so they followed him from a Wells hotel to a less populated area where he was stopped and arrested.

Police say he had a loaded pistol with him.

He was taken to the Southern Maine Medical Center for a mental evaluation and then to York County jail, where he was being held without bail. It was not immediately known if he was being represented by an attorney.