November 14, 2024
Column

Man convicted of manslaughter arrested for OUI

A man convicted of manslaughter in a drunken driving accident in 1996 was arrested for drunken driving Thursday night in Bangor.

Bangor police Officer Dan Herrick reported that at about 9:15 p.m. he was on motorcycle patrol when he observed a vehicle squealing its tires as it turned from 14th Street onto Hammond Street. The vehicle drifted to the centerline, Herrick said, then turned onto the Interstate 95 on-ramp.

Herrick pulled the vehicle over at the end of the ramp. As he approached, he said, the vehicle started to back up, so Herrick shouted and pounded on the windows to get the driver to stop.

The driver, later identified as Daniel Asselin, 36, of Bangor, could not produce a driver’s license, though he insisted he had one. Herrick said dispatch informed him that Asselin’s license was suspended after he was convicted of manslaughter in 1996.

Asselin showed signs of intoxication, including clumsy fingers and the smell of alcohol on his breath. He performed poorly on sobriety tests. Herrick arrested Asselin for operating under the influence and operating after suspension. At the police station, Asselin’s breath was tested at 0.29 percent blood alcohol.

A Bangor man was arrested early Friday after he allegedly assaulted his sister-in-law.

Bangor police Officer Chris Desmond reported that at about 9 p.m. Thursday, he went to a Bolling Drive apartment for a possible domestic assault. A woman there said her husband, Jason Bracy, 25, of Bangor, was out of control. She said he kicked the television but hadn’t touched her.

Bracy agreed to go to his mother’s house for the evening.

At about 1 a.m. Friday, Desmond was called to the same apartment again. The woman and her sister told him that Bracy had returned about an hour after Desmond left and had become enraged. They said Bracy threw a chair at his wife, but she avoided it. Bracy also allegedly threatened to burn the apartment down and to arrange for his wife never to see their child again.

When the sister tried to call 911, they said, Bracy knocked the phone out of her grasp, hurting her hand.

The sister asked Bracy’s brother to try to calm him down, but after an argument, the brother fled.

The women eventually left the apartment and called police. Bracy’s brother returned to try to calm Bracy down again, but Bracy told him to leave and punched a hole in the wall, the women said.

Bracy was charged with assault and taken to Penobscot County Jail to ensure that he didn’t keep causing trouble. His wife reportedly asked that Bracy not be charged with criminal mischief for the wall damage.

– Compiled by NEWS reporter Isaac Kimball

Correction: An item in the “From Police Files” column published on Saturday, May 29, said that Daniel Asselin, 36, of Bangor had been convicted of manslaughter in 1996. Though Asselin initially was charged with manslaughter, he pleaded guilty to aggravated drunken driving and was sentenced to four years in prison.

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