BATH, Maine — A Bath man faces charges including aggravated assault after police say he randomly attacked and stabbed a 72-year-old man on a downtown street in December.
The 35-year-old man was arrested Monday in Brunswick and taken to Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset.
The man, who NEWS CENTER Maine is not naming, was initially taken into protective custody and taken to a hospital for a mental health evaluation after police said he was apparently suffering a "severe mental health episode."
Bath police went to the area of Middle and North streets on Dec. 30, 2020, after receiving multiple reports that a man had randomly attacked another man with a knife.
Officers arrived within minutes of the reports and saw the man allegedly holding two knives, "acting irrationally, and posing a significant threat to public safety," Deputy Chief Andrew Booth wrote in a release at the time.
The man allegedly refused orders by police to drop the knives, and an officer deployed a Taser, which struck the man, who became immobile and was placed in handcuffs.
After deploying the Taser, officers took the man into protective custody and he was taken to Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick for a mental health evaluation.
Police initially determined that the man randomly confronted and attacked the man, causing a minor injury.
Deputy Chief Andrew Booth of the Bath Police Department said Wednesday that the Dec. 30 incident could have ended tragically.
"It was a bad situation," Booth told NEWS CENTER Maine. "In this particular case, we were able to take him into custody safely by using a Taser, when really we could have used deadly force. [But] nobody was seriously hurt and we were able to get him treatment."
In addition to Class B felony aggravated assault, the man faces misdemeanor charges of assault, criminal threatening, reckless conduct, and refusing to submit to arrest or detention.
