Orono police arrested a local man Monday morning when his girlfriend reported that he had assaulted her on three separate occasions.

The problems started Sunday afternoon, when the woman and James Witham, 25, of Orono began arguing about an ex-boyfriend while they were driving north from Augusta, police said.

That’s when Witham grabbed the woman by her hair and elbowed her several times, according to Sgt. Scott Scripture.

When the couple arrived at their apartment, the argument continued, and at one point, Witham whipped her with a towel, leaving a welt on her neck, Scripture said.

The woman went to the Orono police station Monday after Witham pushed her back against a couch following another argument.

The woman declined medical attention. Witham was arrested for assault.

A Brewer man was issued a summons for assault Sunday for reportedly punching another man in the face over a dispute about parking.

Matthew Baston, 31, admitted that he lost his temper when he struck a 36-year-old man with a closed fist, according to Brewer police Sgt. Jason Moffitt.

The two men began arguing because of a parking dispute at a Sentry Street apartment. Baston needed a place to park his car, and the other man, who was visiting his girlfriend, was parked in a spot reserved for tenants.

The man eventually went outside to move his car, but Baston challenged the man to fight and then assaulted him, police said.

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A California woman was charged Sunday with violating a protection order after she allegedly changed the locks on a trailer in Bangor that she shared with her on-again, off-again boyfriend.

Tiffany Martin, 38, was staying at a local hotel and was not supposed to be in contact with her boyfriend, a 32-year-old Bangor man.

The man, however, notified police that Martin had changed the locks. Martin then called the man while he was talking to police.

Martin was later arrested when police found her at the hotel where she was staying.

– Compiled by BDN reporter Eric Russell