Brewer woman faces drug charges after complaint

BREWER – A 66-year-old North Main St. man severed part of his thumb when a neighbor slammed the door on his hand Wednesday night, but it was drug charges, not assault, that police filed against the neighbor.

Authorities determined that no assault had occurred, but during their investigation they discovered marijuana plants, processed marijuana and items used to ingest marijuana inside the apartment of 27-year-old Sara L. Boutaugh, reported Sgt. Chris Martin of the Brewer Police Department. Boutaugh was summoned on charges of cultivating marijuana, possession of a usable amount of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

It was her neighbor Stanley Worcester, 66, who had called police about 11 p.m. to report that Boutaugh had slammed his thumb in the door jamb on the hinges side of the door. Worcester, who police said was intoxicated, claimed he had gone to pet Boutaugh’s dog when she slammed the door on him. Boutaugh claimed Worcester had been bothering her again and that she closed the door on him to get rid of him.

She said he then began pounding on the door and thought he was trying to force his way in, when police said he actually was trying to free his thumb.

Martin said that when he arrived, the partially severed thumb was no longer bleeding and that it was determined that the incident occurred about 10 p.m., one hour before Worcester called police. In the meantime he had covered his wounded thumb in a tube sock and hatched a plan with a friend to file an assault complaint against Boutaugh, according to police.

While Worcester was being taken to the hospital, police found part of the thumb still in the door jamb.

Interviewing Boutaugh just a few feet inside her small apartment, Martin and Cpl. Jason Moffitt smelled the scent of marijuana plants. Questioned about it, Boutaugh brought out a small tin tray from her bedroom that contained some processed marijuana on it, Martin said.

That was not what the officers had smelled, although Boutaugh insisted that was all the marijuana she had.

Believing there was more marijuana to be found, Martin began to secure the area in anticipation of obtaining a search warrant. Part of the procedure included a security sweep of the area to determine that no one else was inside that could destroy or conceal any evidence.

Martin said that in performing the sweep, in plain view he saw four marijuana plants growing in three pots in the bathroom and on a nightstand just inside the bedroom he found a large glass pipe and a plastic bag containing a green substance. On the floor by the bed was a large water bong, according to the police report.

Martin reported that the closet near the kitchen already was open and clearly no one was inside.

The items found in plain sight were seized and Boutaugh was summoned at the police station later.