Lowell man arrested in threat to family

LOWELL – A Lowell man remained in Penobscot County Jail on Tuesday night, one day after he allegedly attacked a computer and threatened to kill several of his relatives, Penobscot County officials said.

Bail for Percy McKenny, 45, was set at $1,000 cash or $10,000 single surety in 3rd District Court on Tuesday. He has been charged with criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon and aggravated reckless conduct.

McKenny had begun arguing with his 45-year-old girlfriend and his 18-year-old son about 8 p.m. at their Preble Road home Monday after telling them that he didn’t want his girlfriend using the Internet and chat rooms,

Deputy David Duplisea of the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department said. The argument escalated and McKenny told the pair that he was going to “smash [the computer] up or blow it up and he was going to use his handgun to do it,” Duplisea said.

McKenny then allegedly got his semiautomatic handgun, Duplisea said. McKenny’s son initially attempted to stop his father from shooting the computer, but left the home when McKenny’s girlfriend told him to go to his aunt’s home next door and call for help.

As his son was going for help, McKenny stood at the entrance to the trailer and fired three or four shots into the air, Duplisea said. McKenny then re-entered the home and threw a coffee mug through the monitor of the computer.

“He felt he had the right to destroy the computer because he had bought it, he had paid for it,” Duplisea said. “He admitted he was intoxicated … He said he’d been drinking a lot of beer.”

McKenny’s girlfriend and a 39-year-old family friend who had also been in the trailer then went to the neighbor’s home as well, with McKenny following behind, Duplisea said. McKenny then reportedly threatened to kill all three people, before his sister, who lived in the neighboring home, calmed him down and talked him into giving up the gun while his son called police.

Trooper David Millett of the Maine State Police was the first to meet the group and took McKenny into custody without incident. No one was injured in the night’s events.