Man’s panhandling sets off altercation

A Bangor man allegedly was assaulted Sunday evening after launching a protest of what he believed to be fraudulent panhandling.

Bangor police Officer Eric Tourtellotte reported that at about 7 p.m. he went to the intersection of Broadway and Interstate 95, where a man told him Jason Cozzie, 33, a transient, threw a chunk of pavement at him cutting his face.

The man told Tourtellotte that Cozzie often stands at the intersection with a sign that reads, “Homeless: will work for donations.” He said he had heard Cozzie bragging at a local bar about how much money he makes this way. The man said he went to the intersection Sunday with a sign that reads, “He’s a fraud.”

He stood about 20 yards away from Cozzie, who first yelled at him. The man said that when he asserted his equal right to stand there with his sign, Cozzzie threw the pavement at him, then ran off.

Tourtellotte told the man that it was probably not a good idea to protest Cozzie’s activities in that way. He said Cozzie has every right to stand by the side of the road with a sign, and that if people want to give him money, it’s their choice.

Tourtellotte said he would attempt to find Cozzie and charge him with assault.

A burglary to an Orono apartment was discovered Sunday afternoon. Orono police Officer Robert Sinclair reported that at about 5 p.m. a man returned to his Evergreen Terrace apartment after being away for a few days. The man noticed damage to a screen on his window.

The man looked around inside and discovered that his DVD player, a Sony Playstation and a laptop computer were missing, along with some DVDs and video games. The property was valued at $3,500. This case is under investigation.

Bangor police summoned two men on alcohol-related charges involving a teenage girl Sunday night. Detective Erik Tall reported that at about 10 p.m. he and Officers Steve Pelletier and Al Woolley went to a parking lot behind a Center Street building, where a domestic dispute was believed to be in progress. They found two men and a 15-year-old girl in a car.

The girl was crying, and appeared to be intoxicated. She initially denied drinking, Tall said, but eventually admitted drinking three cans of Budweiser at an apartment down the road belonging to Richard Dawes, 21, of Bangor.

The man in the driver’s seat, who Tall said was attempting to start the car when the officers arrived, also denied drinking. His breath smelled of alcohol. The man, Aaron Pancsofar, 18, of Bangor, eventually told Tall he drank two beers, and admitted that he was planning on driving his girlfriend home to Glenburn.

Pelletier took Pancsofar to the station for a breath test. He was charged with operating a motor vehicle with alcohol in his blood, while under 21 years of age. His blood alcohol level was 0.07 percent.

Woolley and Tall went to Richard Dawes’ apartment. Tall said Dawes denied drinking in his apartment, or that anybody else drank there. He said the girl and her companions drank in a common area of the building. He admitted having some empty beer cans in a trash bag. He said three unknown men had brought a 30-pack to his apartment, but that he had refused to let them drink there. He acknowledged that the 15 empty Budweiser cans, along with an unopened can in his refrigerator, were all from that pack. Tall summoned Dawes for furnishing a place for minors to consume alcohol.

– Compiled by NEWS reporter Isaac Kimball