Dover-Foxcroft man denies causing standoff with police

DOVER-FOXCROFT – A Dover-Foxcroft man who held police at bay for eight hours in late September made his initial court appearance Monday in 13th District Court.

Kenneth Cosenze, 44, did not enter a plea for one count of aggravated assault for allegedly stabbing a police officer, but he did deny in court that he created a police standoff.

Judge Kevin Stitham set bail on the aggravated assault charge at $500 cash.

Cosenze, who was indicted by a Penobscot County grand jury last summer on 13 counts of gross sexual assault and three counts of unlawful sexual contact, is being held at the Penobscot County Jail on bail of $60,000 surety or $20,000 cash.

The standoff occurred when Dover-Foxcroft police Officer David Wilson and Lt. Scott Arno went to the man’s Dover-Foxcroft apartment to take him into custody after he failed to attend his initial court appearance on the Penobscot County indictment.

Cosenze became agitated while talking to police and pulled out a pocketknife. In an ensuing struggle with police, Arno was struck with the knife and suffered two puncture wounds on his left forearm and a puncture wound to his upper biceps that required stitches.

When Cosenze failed to turn himself over to local police, the state tactical team was used in tag-team fashion to persuade Cosenze to come out, but ultimately authorities needed tear gas to force him out of his apartment.