Police stabbing suspect appeared nonviolent

PORTLAND — The Portland police officer who is recuperating from severe stab wounds says the man who inflicted them appeared anything but violent in the hour leading up to the attack, according to radio dispatch recordings.

Kevin Caufield “was all passive when we talked to him, and he agreed to leave” a tavern where he had been making threatening remarks on Friday, Officer James Sweatt said after talking to Caufield.

But just 45 minutes after leaving the tavern, Caufield stabbed Sweatt repeatedly in the neck before being shot dead by Sweatt’s partner, Officer Glen McGary, police said.

The two had pursued Caufield into his garage to investigate a report that he telephoned Paul and Val’s Firehouse Tavern with a bomb threat shortly after leaving.

The officers couldn’t find Caufield at his home, but spotted him riding a bicycle as they left to search for him.

“He’s on his bike trying to make it home. … He’s going in the garage” was Sweatt’s last radio message of the night before pursuing Caufield into his garage.

Caufield, 44, jumped Sweatt on a set of stairs inside the dark garage, plunging an 8-inch knife into Sweatt’s head and neck, police said. One thrust pierced his jugular vein and one broke a vertebra. Another went from one side of his neck to the other.

McGary got a clear shot as Caufield raised his hand to strike again and fired four times, killing Caufield, according to police.

Police also found a folder labeled “pigs” that contained news clippings dating back to 1994 about Portland police officers and allegations of police brutality, Chief Michael Chitwood said.

Officers later found bomb-making equipment in Caufield’s basement along with books on how to make bombs and booby traps.

Sweatt was in stable condition at Maine Medical Center and faces a long recuperation, police said.

He was alert and was able to talk and eat, Chitwood said.