Bangor pair charged in domestic dispute

A Bangor couple was arrested after an early morning argument turned physical and wound up outside, where it was witnessed by neighbors and passers-by, according to police.

Rachael M. Nickerson, 19, and Eric Charbonneau, 21, each face charges of domestic assault, while Nickerson also was charged with violation of bail conditions. Nickerson had been arrested days earlier on a charge of carrying a concealed weapon without a permit.

Police were called to Columbia Street shortly before 7 a.m. by a report of a man dragging a woman back into an apartment. Both came out and spoke to Officer Jeff Small, who determined that Nickerson had thrown the first punch, leaving a bruise on the man’s left eye.

Charbonneau told Officer Christopher Blanchard that Nickerson had started to “freak out” and had punched him. He said he put his hands on both sides of her head to try to calm her down, but couldn’t, and she ran outside. She told police that she hadn’t meant what she said about killing herself and that Charbonneau had pushed a pillow on top of her.

A roommate told police that they had never known Charbonneau to be violent toward Nickerson and that he had tried only to protect and help her.

But a neighbor told police that he heard a commotion outside, went to investigate and saw Charbonneau hit Nickerson several times in the face. He said he yelled down to Charbonneau to leave the woman alone. A motorist also told of seeing a man push a woman and then seeing the woman on the ground.

Robert Bell, 30, of Bangor faces a domestic assault charge after it was reported that he grabbed his girlfriend by the neck as they walked in the parking lot of Bass Park in Bangor on Sunday evening.

Bell told police that the argument with his girlfriend never got physical, explaining to Officer James Hassard that the red mark on his girlfriend’s neck might have come when he put his arm around her. She told Hassard that he put his arm around her first, then grabbed her neck.

According to the police report, Bell had been scheduled to attend an anger management class after a previous incident but failed to show up. Hassard said that Bell’s girlfriend had told him that Bell had kicked her one time.

Bell became angry when Hassard told him that he was being arrested, telling the officer that it would ruin his chances of serving in law enforcement, according to the police report.

James Harris, 19, of Bangor faces several charges after it was reported he cut a piece of his mother’s garden hose and used it to siphon gas from his brother’s truck.

While Bangor police were investigating that complaint, a neighbor also reported that she had lent Harris her Nintendo game system and games that he never returned. Officer Dan Herrick found a pawn slip in Harris’ vehicle.

Harris was charged with violating his probation, criminal mischief and two counts of theft.

Harris’ brother suspected that his sibling had been taking gas from his tank and he noticed this time that his gas tank was empty, when it should have been at least a half-full. A neighbor told Herrick that he spotted Harris using the cut piece of garden hose to siphon the gas and told him that he shouldn’t be doing it. Harris told him that it was OK, he had done it before.

– Compiled by NEWS reporter Doug Kesseli