Child, three adults held hostage by Bangor man > Court appearance slated Monday

A man who “thought he was the devil” held three adults and a 2-year-old child hostage early Saturday morning inside a Bangor apartment.

Two hostages got away and two were released before Bangor police entered the apartment and arrested 20-year-old Michael Melland, who assaulted two police officers with a toilet seat cover and a child’s car seat.

Melland, of Bangor, was apprehended after police sprayed him with Mace through a broken window. He is scheduled to be in 3rd District Court in Bangor on Monday and faces charges of aggravated assault, Class C; four counts of kidnapping, Class A; terrorizing, Class D; aggravated criminal mischief, Class B; two counts of assaulting an officer, Class C; and criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, Class C.

Police received a call at 1:17 a.m. from a man who had run from the apartment at 101 First St. to Dunkin’ Donuts on Main Street. Before police arrived another man escaped and ran down the street. When police got to the apartment, they found a 20-year-old woman on the porch of the apartment house. Melland was outside on the porch, where he had placed the woman’s daughter. When he saw police he ran back inside the apartment and told police that he was armed with a .44-caliber Magnum handgun.

Police evacuated the other apartments and surrounded the building. Inside, Melland reportedly was trashing the apartment, breaking windows and throwing such items as toys, a radio, a television set, records and kitchen utensils outside. A child’s car seat thrown from a window struck Bangor Police Officer Jeffrey Millard.

Police attempted to convince Melland to come outside, but he refused and allegedly threatened to kill the first police officer through the door.

When he spotted Bangor Police Officer Robert Gould on the porch he said, “I see you there. You move and I’ll kill you,” Gould reported.

The department’s chaplain, Pastor Robert Carlson, was called to the scene but was unable to talk Melland out of the apartment. Melland walked by a broken window and Officer Paul White and Sgt. Ward Gagner were able to spray his face and upper body with Mace.

Melland ran to the bathroom to try to wash the chemical off his face and police stormed the apartment. Melland reportedly threw a toilet seat cover out the bathroom door and struck Gagner in the arm.

Gagner, Gould and Millard barged into the bathroom and forced Melland to the floor. During the struggle, Melland received a cut on his head.

He was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center and then to Penobscot County Jail.

Doris Perry, the 20-year-old woman who lives at the apartment, told police that Melland was her live-in maid. She said the group was sitting around the apartment and talking about “spirits.” She said Melland thought he was the devil and grabbed her by the hair, and held a knife to her throat when she attempted to leave the apartment. Perry received an abrasion, but not a cut to her throat, police said.

The other two men in the apartment, Dennis Hasey, 20, who also lives at the apartment, and Gregory Culver, a student at Penobscot Job Corps Center, told police that Melland threatened them both with a knife and also threatened to kill Perry’s 2-year-old daughter, who was sleeping in a bedroom.

The two men escaped when Mendall went into the kitchen to threaten Perry. When the men left, Melland told Perry to go and get them because he did not want to get police involved. Perry went to the porch, but did not want to leave her child alone with Melland.

Melland drank about half a gallon of coffee brandy before the episode began, the hostages said.