Bangor woman charged in stabbing of ex-boyfriend

A Bangor woman was arrested early Saturday and charged with aggravated assault after she admitted to stabbing her on-again-off-again boyfriend twice in the arm, according to Bangor police reports. The couple, with two children, has a history of this type of violence.

Officers Russell Twadell, Brad Johnston and Lt. Mark Hathaway went to an apartment at 44 Boyd St. at about 12:45 a.m. They found the victim walking on the sidewalk and bleeding from two puncture wounds on his forearm.

The man told police his ex-girlfriend had stabbed him when he was in the apartment, which was hers. The man was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center.

The officers knocked on the door of the apartment and Judith Howard, 42, let them inside. According to the report, police asked her whether she had stabbed her ex and she admitted to it.

She took the officers into the kitchen where there were spots of blood on the floor. In the sink was a knife with red stains on the blade. Officer Twadell asked her whether this was the knife she used to stab the victim. She said it was and moved her hand toward it.

She became offended when Officer Johnston pushed her hand away from the knife and later was argumentative when they tried to put her in the police cruiser because she didn’t like being handcuffed.

In an interview at the police station, Howard said she and the victim had been drinking that night. According to the report, she said the victim had handed her the knife and told her to stab him.

Howard told police she had tried to stab him in the abdomen, but couldn’t puncture his clothing, so she went for his arms instead. The victim then ran outside, where police found him soon after.

Howard added that she had stabbed the man once in 2002 or 2003, but they didn’t report it. Howard was taken to Penobscot County Jail after the interview was completed.

Officer Twadell then went to visit the victim at EMMC, who received seven stitches to close the wounds. The man said the fight started when Howard called him “a deadbeat dad,” and she stabbed him as he tried to get up to leave the apartment.

The man confirmed that Howard had stabbed him years earlier, and added that she often would hit him when she became upset and that one of those times was with a hammer.

Five Bangor police officers responded to a call about a possible knife fight involving six to eight men Saturday night on Fourteenth Street, according to police reports.

Officer Dan Herrick, first on the scene, found no fight in progress and no weapons visible. Herrick noted that a man, later identified as Travis Middleton, 22, of Bangor appeared to be the most belligerent of the group and was covering his mouth with his hand as if he had been hit.

According to police documents, Middleton said he had come to pick a fight with another man, who he said had threatened over the phone earlier that day to kill him and his girlfriend. He said they had exchanged punches, but he didn’t want to press charges.

Throughout their conversation, Middleton would slump against his Kia Sportage and slide to the ground, only to get up again. The officers noted his bloodshot eyes and odd behavior and believed he was intoxicated.

The officers asked Middleton whether he had driven to the scene, and he said he had not. His girlfriend, who was also present, told police that he did drive them to Fourteenth Street. During the conversation, officers found a 39-gram bag of marijuana in the front seat of Middleton’s vehicle.

Middleton was taken to the Bangor Police Department where he registered 0.15 on the Intoxilyzer. The state legal level is 0.08. He was cooperative throughout the process, according to reports, and was released and received summonses for OUI and trafficking in marijuana.

Bangor police arrested a man for allegedly operating under the influence of intoxicants in the Club Gemini parking lot late Thursday night.

Officer Shawn Green was on patrol when he drove by Club Gemini and noticed a crowd of people surrounding a gold Honda in the parking lot. When he pulled into the lot, the crowd dispersed, and he was approached by an unidentified male who stated that the driver of the Honda had been drinking.

Police reports state that Officer Green approached the car, which the operator, Michael Bassler, 21, of Castine, had just parked. Upon speaking to Bassler he noticed the smell of intoxicating beverages and decided to perform a field sobriety test. According to police reports, Bassler failed the tests.

Green determined that Bassler was intoxicated and arrested him. Bassler was administered an Intoxilyzer test at the Bangor police station. His blood-alcohol content was 0.13 percent. He was summoned for OUI and released.

– COMPILED BY BDN REPORTERS NICK MCCREA AND ERIN McNAMARA