Car stalls, motorist sent to jail for outstanding theft warrant

A Hudson woman whose car stalled in Orono on Monday morning got a ride with an Orono police sergeant but not to where she wanted to go. She was taken to Penobscot County Jail.

The car came to rest on North Maine Avenue where its driver, Melissa Grant, 22, said it just stopped running while she was driving. During a computer records check, Sgt. Josh Ewing found Grant was wanted on a warrant for failure to appear in court on a previous theft charge, her license was suspended and that the car hadn’t been registered for nearly three years, according to the police.

Grant was arrested on the warrant and summoned for operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license and operating an unregistered motor vehicle.

She was released from jail Monday on cash bail of $250.

An Old Town man was arrested on Sunday and charged with assault after he reportedly got out of control and struck his girlfriend in the face with a telephone antenna.

The woman told police that John Cardoza, 40, was working on his car about 10 p.m. with his two daughters when she asked them to come in for the night, Old Town police Sgt. Travis Roy said Monday. When Cardoza refused, she locked him out briefly, then let him back inside. He was agitated and struck her with the antenna of a cordless phone, hitting her just below the eye, Roy said.

Cardoza was arrested, charged with assault and taken to the Penobscot County Jail. He was released Monday on cash bail of $1,000.

Compiled by BDN reporter Doug Kesseli