Bangor police took a 39-year-old Bangor man into custody after he threatened to stick a police officer with the knife he had been waiving about as he walked along Center Street early Friday morning.

John Eaton Jr. faces charges of criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon and trafficking in dangerous knives. He initially was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center for a mental health evaluation.

Officer Chad Foley spotted Eaton waiving his hands around and muttering to himself about 2:45 a.m. on Center Street near Madison Avenue, according to the police report. Foley drove closer and saw a butterfly knife in Eaton’s hands. Foley said he shined his cruiser’s spotlight on Eaton and tried to talk to the man, asking what he was doing.

Eaton took up a fight stance and yelled for Foley to get away from him. When Foley told him to drop the knife, Eaton yelled back that he would stick Foley with it, according to the police report. Foley continued to monitor Eaton, following him slowly in his cruiser while waiting for backup to arrive. Foley scanned the streets to make sure there were no other pedestrians.

Officers Rob Angelo and Erik Tall arrived and Eaton took up the fighting stance again. There was a wild look in his eyes when police told him to drop the knife, Foley said. Eventually he closed the knife and dropped it on the ground and the officers took him into custody.

Eaton told Foley that he was angry because none of the stores were open.

A Bangor woman told police she feared for her family’s safety after her former fiance became enraged and walked around their apartment displaying a hunting rifle.

Paul Trask, 20, eventually hid the rifle under his former fiancee’s bed and met police outside the Griffin Park apartment Thursday evening, when he was charged with disorderly conduct and domestic assault.

Bangor police Officer Chris Morley met Trask’s girlfriend at the doorway, where she was clutching her 2-year-old daughter, he said. The 19-year-old woman said she feared for their safety, explaining that efforts to reconcile had failed and that she had told Trask to leave. Trask demanded custody of their daughter while he was packing.

With matters escalating, she locked Trask outside to give her time to call the police, according to the police report, although she reported he used a card to slide open the lock mechanism. Once back inside, he ripped the phone line from the wall while she was calling the police.

A friend arrived and she used a cellular phone to call for help and Trask went outside to his truck, returning with the hunting rifle. She said that he normally doesn’t bring the rifle into the apartment and that there was no reason for him to bring it in this time as he was packing to leave.

She also told police that there were other incidents, including on Oct. 31, when Trask had grabbed her on the arm, leaving marks.

While being detained by police, Trask was yelling and using profane language, despite repeated warnings by police for him to quiet down, reported Officer Erik Tall. When warnings didn’t work, Tall arrested Trask.

Stopped for speeding and suspected of being intoxicated, a 29-year-old Bangor man claimed to be a professional bowler out joy riding and allegedly feigned back spasms during field sobriety tests, later claiming it was a joke.

Duane T. Christmas was arrested and charged with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicants and operating a motor vehicle without a license.

Christmas did have a license with him, as Bangor police Officer Rob Angelo discovered, but it was not his own. Stopped for speeding on Broadway about midnight Thursday, Christmas handed Angelo a license with a picture that didn’t look like him. He also gave the policeman an old receipt instead of the car’s registration that Angelo had asked for.

Christmas claimed that the license belonged to the driver, although Angelo pointed out that he was the only person in the small station wagon. Christmas claimed he was just out joy riding and couldn’t be the driver as he didn’t have a license.

The antics continued during field sobriety tests when Christmas grabbed his back and complained of back spasms, only to straighten up and say he was fine and just kidding. Christmas couldn’t perform the field sobriety tests as required and acknowledged his failings. He also suggested that Angelo have him do push-ups as one of the tests.

Angelo arrested Christmas and an Intoxilyzer test registered his blood alcohol content at 0.20 percent, or more than twice the legal limit of 0.08 percent.

Angelo estimated that Christmas was doing 60 mph on Broadway when he passed the officer stopped on Griffin Road.

A Brewer man whom police suspected of being intoxicated and saw making an illegal left turn early Friday morning claimed it was actually his wife who was behind the wheel.

Questioned about making a left onto Hammond Street from Franklin Street in Bangor- a prohibited turn – Gavin Finnerty claimed he wasn’t familiar with the area, reported Bangor police Officer Brian Nichols. Finnerty said he and his wife had come from Diva’s, a bar and strip club, and were just driving around.

Finnerty allegedly smelled of alcohol, his eyes were glassy and he admitted to having three or four drinks, although he denied being “stupid drunk,” according to the police report. Finnerty swayed during one field sobriety test and showed indications of intoxication during others, Nichols noted.

Placed under arrest, Finnerty was searched. During this time, he asked Nichols whether he had mentioned that he wasn’t driving. Nichols said no.

“Oh, well, my wife was driving,” Finnerty said. “We switched.”

Finnerty was arrested and charged with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicants and with operating a motor vehicle beyond license restrictions.

Finnerty refused to take the Intoxilyzer test, according to the police report.

– Compiled by NEWS reporter Doug Kesseli