Dedham man pleads not guilty to criminal threatening charge

ELLSWORTH — Major Bruce M. Barry, 43, a public affairs officer with the Maine National Guard, entered not guilty pleas to several charges in Hancock County Superior Court in Ellsworth Friday.

Barry said he was not guilty of charges of criminal threatening with the use of a dangerous weapon, reckless conduct with the use of a dangerous weapon and threatening display of a dangerous weapon.

According to information filed earlier with the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department, Barry, 43, of Dedham, was arrested Aug. 12, after he allegedly threatened a neighbor with a revolver. The alleged threat followed an incident in which the man allegedly mooned Barry’s wife from a driveway.

According to the police report, Barry’s wife claimed that neighbors had harassed her while she and her daughter were alone at their Dedham home. She called Barry home, and he became embroiled in an argument with Steve Eldridge, the man who allegedly had offended Mrs. Barry.

Eldridge, 46, of Orrington, was charged with disorderly conduct after the incident.

On Wednesday, Aug. 11, another neighbor complained to the Hancock sheriff’s office that Barry had blocked his truck in a driveway with a bulldozer and another vehicle. A sheriff deputy asked both men to move their vehicles. The deputy later reported that the two neighbors apparently had a property-line dispute.

At the arraignment Friday, Hancock County District Attorney Michael Povich reviewed the condition of bail and asked that the court order that Barry possess no firearms.