Ellsworth man charged with threatening police with knife

ELLSWORTH – A local man remained in jail Wednesday after police responded to a domestic disturbance call, and he threatened officers with a knife, according to officials.

Jesse Hooper, 22, allegedly beat up a woman around noon Tuesday at his house on Winkumpaugh Road before he ripped out the phone lines at the house and slashed a tire on the woman’s car, Ellsworth police Officer Jeremy Cox said Wednesday. The woman went to a neighbor’s house and called police, he said.

Hooper did not cooperate with police when they arrived at his home, according to Ellsworth police Lt. Harold Page.

“He came out of the house at the officers with a knife,” Page said.

Officer Kelvin Mote jammed his shoulder in the ensuing scuffle with Hooper, but police otherwise were not injured, the lieutenant said.

The woman was taken by ambulance to Maine Coast Memorial Hospital in Ellsworth, where she was treated for lumps and bruises on her face and head and hearing loss in one ear, Cox said. Page said she was released from the hospital later on Tuesday.

Tensions between Hooper and the alleged victim have been building for a while, Page said, but Tuesday was the first time local police were called out to Hooper’s home. He said Hooper allegedly became violent Tuesday after the woman refused to give Hooper a ride in her car.

Hooper has been charged with aggravated assault, criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, criminal mischief, obstructing the report of a crime or injury, refusing to submit and violating bail, according to Cox.