A 24-year-old Bangor man said he was assaulted and his cellular phone stolen early Wednesday morning while he was walking near Shaw’s Supermarket on Main Street in Bangor and encountered a couple arguing.

The man told police that he was talking to a friend on his cell phone and that the man embroiled in the argument with a woman thought he was calling the police.

The alleged victim said the man punched him in the face and took his cell phone. The couple then fled, investigators were told.

Bangor Detective Lt. Tim Reid said a police dog was sent to the area but could not locate anyone. The man who was assaulted had a swollen left cheek, but he refused treatment by ambulance personnel.

The man gave a limited description of his alleged assailant as being 6 feet tall with short dark hair and wearing a T-shirt.

A Bangor man allegedly tried to steal nicotine gum from a pharmacy Wednesday afternoon.

Bangor police Officer William Lawrence said that at about noon he went to the Rite Aid store on Union Street, where a theft was in progress. Store employees identified a man in a gray sweat shirt, who they said took Rite Aid brand nicotine gum out of its package and hid it in his pocket.

Lawrence asked the man to empty his pockets. The man, identified as David Maggiacoma, 27, of Bangor, produced the gum tablets, admitting he took them from the box. He said he was trying to quit smoking.

Lawrence charged Maggiacoma with theft. The gum cost $28.99.

The Brewer Police Department issued a warning this week to any homeowners preparing for new construction or repair.

While the majority of contractors and construction workers are honest businesspeople, Brewer police Cpl. Richard Smith said, “there are a few that are scammers, intending to do nothing but defraud consumers of their money.”

“Typically, law enforcement concerns are with transient or door-to-door sellers,” Smith said, adding that door-to-door repair fraud is rampant in Maine. Homeowners should be sure they receive a written contract. Consumers should also ask for the contractor’s permanent business address, or ask to see their state registration card.

Maine law protects consumers in a number of ways, Smith said. The Home Construction Contracts Act requires contractors to have a written contract for any home construction or repairs over $3,000, including the price, a description of the work and the estimated completion date. Any changes must be in writing according to this law, Smith said, and violators are subject to steep fines.

Other laws concerned with repair fraud are the Consumer Solicitation Act, the Transient Sales Act and the Door to Door Seller of Home Repair Services Act.

For information about home construction and repair fraud, contact Cpl. Richard Smith at the Brewer Police Department, 989-7000, or the Maine Attorney General’s Office Consumer Protection Division at 626-8842.

– Compiled by NEWS reporters Doug Kesseli and Isaac Kimball