BANGOR, Maine — A Penobscot County jury on Monday found a local man guilty of threatening a Brewer man with a hatchet on Oct. 27 outside a Chinese restaurant in what the prosecutor described as a “road rage” incident.
Arthur Moran, 54, of Bangor was found guilty of criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, a Class C crime, after a daylong trial, according to the Penobscot County District Attorney’s Office.
Jurors deliberated for less than 20 minutes before announcing their verdict, Michael Roberts, deputy district attorney for Penobscot County, said in a telephone interview late Monday.
Superior Court Justice Kevin Cuddy immediately sentenced Moran to three years in prison with all but one suspended. He faced up to five years in prison on that charge.
Cuddy also sentenced Moran to six months in jail, to be served concurrently, after he pleaded guilty to Class D terrorizing. The defendant pleaded guilty to that charge, which involved threatening a witness in the case, after he was found guilty of the more serious charge, Roberts said. Moran faced up to a year in prison on the misdemeanor charge.
Moran’s attorney, Joseph Belisle of Bangor, told jurors in his opening statement that his client admitted being in the parking lot of the No. 1 Kitchen at the corner of State and Maple streets, where the incident took place, but denied acting in a threatening manner.
Roberts told jurors in his opening statement that Moran became upset because he had been waiting to turn right from Maple Street onto State Street and believed the victim should have waited for him to complete his turn before turning left and pulling into the restaurant parking lot.
The 60-year-old victim, who lives in Brewer, testified Monday that he turned left into the restaurant parking lot from State Street about 4:50 p.m. on Oct. 27. He said that while he was inside the restaurant he saw Moran in the parking lot waving a hatchet and yelling obscenities at him.
Meanwhile, another witness, who worked at S.J. Rollins Technologies in the building next to the Chinese restaurant, saw Moran shouting and waving the hatchet in the parking lot. The witness testified Monday that he wrote down Moran’s license plate number and went back inside his building and called police.
“The screaming had ceased, so I paid for my bag full of food and looked out to see where he was and I thought, ‘This could cause some indigestion,’” the victim testified.
He told jurors that he thought Moran had left the area, so he got into his truck and pulled out into State Street to head home to eat supper.
It turned out that Moran had not left, and pulled up behind Moran as he waited to turn left off State Street onto Oak Street.
The victim said at one point Moran pulled beside him and was “yelling and waving his fists.” Moran then got behind the victim again.
“I thought, ‘If this guy is going to follow me, I’m going to take him right to the [Bangor] police station,’” he testified.
The victim said he saw two police cruisers with their lights on and sirens wailing coming toward him on State Street. At that point, Moran pulled into the Family Dollar Store, and cruisers went in behind him. The victim said he pulled into the same lot to tell officers what had happened.
“I thought, ‘Whew, I’m safe,’” the victim told jurors.
Moran was arrested at gunpoint and a hatchet was recovered from his truck. He was taken to the Penobscot County Jail and released later that day.
On Oct. 28, Moran went to S.J. Rollins and threatened the witness who worked there, Roberts said Monday. A motion to revoke his bail was filed but it took about six weeks for it to be heard and granted.
In the six weeks leading up to the trial, Moran had been held without bail, the prosecutor said. That time will be applied to the year he is expected to serve.
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Threaten your wife with a firearm and you’re out on the streets…Threaten a stranger with a hatchet in a road rage incident and you’re convicted and sentenced to prison in 20 minutes or less…
Or Shot Dead on the spot by someone rightly in fear for their life.
or by someone that was deliberately trying to provoke you so that they could play the “victim card” and get away with shooting you. I’ve read cases where this is happening a lot in our country.
What do you do with people like this? Do you suppose he learned his lesson? Or will learn it? Now he will be in prison living a very unproductive life that we have to finance. That is the price of keeping the streets safe but nonetheless, what a waste!
This is the price of our failed education system and family values. Less than half of our population gets a decent upbringing. It feels like we are in a downward spiral. Oh well, the end is getting closer.
“less that half our population gets a decent upbringing”…
Um, where did you get that statistic? and what constitutes a “decent upbringing”?
By your logic (and I use that term VERY loosely) more than half of the people in this “population” are criminals. True enough that we have a moral degredation, but your attempt at pulling statistics out of your hind end shows that your logical reasoning and math skills are what is really in a downward spiral…
The “statistics” obviously were not the point the poster was trying to make but instead a minor detail most likely exaggerated in frustration. Sometimes people do that, but it’s not cause for a verbal attack. The poster was obviously expressing frustrations about the lack of morals, ethics, ability to converse, willingness to accept, tolerate or appreciate differences in people for any number of reasons – race, religion, intellectual level, difference of opinion, voting status, could be any little thing that sets off people these days… The poster is expressing concern that this new negativity begins with the lack of family values, morals, ethics being instilled in many of our youth. I happen to agree with that. I wish I didn’t… the “statistics” are irrelevant because it’s not about detailed statistical data – it’s about life which is something we can see with our own eyes and experience on a daily basis.
We don’t need detailed, documented statistical data to see that more and more people are choosing drugs. Statistical data is irrelevant and prison is not really the point… some things you can learn as an eye witness or via hands on experience. Not all things are learned through someone else’s statistical data research (which incidentally may not be 100% accurate). What we can see and experience with our own eyes and ears is that more and more people seem to be demonstrating an arrogance, an entitled attitude, as well as, a lack of morals, ethics, conscience, etc… Sometimes it lands them in jail and sometimes it doesn’t (i.e., Casey Anthony) but that’s not really the point either. I think our judicial system is flawed too but that’s another subject altogether.
People in this country seem angrier and more entitled than ever before. Can we trace this behavior back to childhood? Well, I think so and obviously this poster thinks so too. It’s okay if you disagree with that. But, it’s really not okay to be so quick to respond with an instant hostile verbal attack pointing out flawed parts of a statement and insulting the poster’s intelligence. That’s a problem…
Please don’t take this defensively but your response actually helped to make this poster’s point. I believe the poster is wondering what happened to kindness, tolerance, ability to disagree civilly, conscience, a healthy fear of doing wrong… where did it go? The poster thinks it is beginning in the home at early child hood.
I happen to agree with the poster. I think that people are very quick to anger, very quick to casually insult and demean others, people seem to think nothing of harming others or even killing others, including their own children. You can’t let your children play in the yard anymore for fear of abduction, rape, murder, you can’t go shopping in downtown Bangor without fear of running into a bath salts user, you can’t even post a simple comment in the BDN without an attack on your intelligence and intolerance of a differing opinion.
The poster and I think that this can be changed by focusing and working on morals, ethics, values, conscience from the earliest possible age. This isn’t blaming parents because many have to work… but it saying that our society in general is getting away from these very important things that make our country great.
Very well said. Thank you for bringing much needed sensibility to this article. I agree with you 100%.
Dangerous nut cases like this Moran fellow have been around forever. His behavior has NOTHING to do with the educational system or family values. You are injecting your personal biases into this situation.
Of much greater concern is the judicial system. Moran was convicted of criminal threatening AND threatening a witness, even going to his workplace (could stalking also have been charged?). A sentence of three years in prison, with two years suspended, is ludicrous.
Since we’re talking about Number 1, let me tell you this – the place looks sketchy, but it’s the best, reasonably-priced (which takes Jade out of contention), deliciously- greasy, Chinese food in town. Give it a try. Their chicken fingers are far superior to Jade’s (whose chicken fingers are fat, bready, greasy dumplinesque yuckos), so you’ll want to grab some of those (order the sweet & sour chicken and tell them to keep the sauce, which comes on the side anyway). As always with Chinese food, stay away from the exotic stuff. Stick to the basics and you won’t be disappointed.
Oh – and crazy hatchet guy, stay away – nobody likes you.
#1 = ?
Hatchetman needs to be put in the Psycho Ward.
He definitely is a man in search of a psychiatrist. Perhaps Warren might provide him the necessary services.
Good luck finding a psychiatrist in this area. ha ha Not only in limited supply but there are long waiting lists. Mostly what you find in Bangor is your garden variety Social Worker with a small 2.5 year degree. Also there are no real psycho wards in Bangor. You’ve got your low capacity Doratha Dix which will be closing soon and your Acadia (lets throw pills at people) revolving door type McD’s (McDoctors).
I might just sneak a bite now that Hatchet Man is (hopefully) on his way to Warren. Think I’ll park up Birch and duck through some backyards, just in case.
Ya know, He would have probably gotten off with a hand slap, but he had to go back and threaten the witness. Don’t wear baggy pants, Mr. Moran.
If he can’t “blend” with society, time to put the dog down!
Volcano Bowl will do this everytime…….
The last time I saw something like that, it was the old granny cook chasing a complaining customer out the door with a meat cleaver (somewhere in Virginia). It’s a cultural thing. :)
When I first saw this guy in the paper… it made me laugh… I yelled to my husband and said, “Hey isn’t that the guy that wanted to fight that day?” He did the same to us for looking at him while he opened the passengers door at a red light… The light turned green and he put gloves on and was all exicited following us crazily!! I have a feeling he did this too often!
I wonder if he will play nice with his fellow inmates. Could be that if he doesn’t we will be reading of his demise.
Maybe he’ll get kitchen duty?
(knives?)
I wanna put this psycho and the crazy tank-top / beer-belly bicycle dude from downtown Bangor in the octagon and see who wins! Thunderdome! Or maybe make it a ghetto rumble and throw in shaved-head all-black-clothes mental guy (from downtown) in there too.
No wonder some of the Downtown merchants are a bit queasy about some of their drop-ins.
I don’t think bike guy or man-in-black are particularly dangerous, but they would put on a great show no doubt in terms of rambling, spitting, yelling, and acting wild if all thrown together. We could set each of them up with a “little-person” rider and have a 3-way Master/Blaster cage match!
It could be the long awaited downtown promotion aimed at increasing foot traffic. The Mall would have nothing to compare with it.
WHO RUN BARTER TOWN?! XD aka Bathsalttown! ha ha ha http://youtu.be/Hgq4w4dqKsU
Downtown is creepy and over priced.
How is the food at that Chinese restaurant ? I always figure it is such a small and plain looking building and simple name, the food has to be good
Why does the judge give out a sentence and then suspend part of it? What is the point? Can’t the judge put a person on probation after their jail term is completed without suspending part of the jail term.
Answer: Maine Judges identify more with criminals than victims.
No, they can’t. Probation is served with a suspended portion of the sentence. That way, in theory, if the person doesn’t follow probation thye can go back to prison for the unsuspended portion. In practice that never works out, but thta is the theory.
HE looks whacked…lock him up~
Was the restaurant a Benihana?
An anger management course might be warranted here!
This is a good case for having a concealed weapons permit.
Sad story
We were crossing the parking lot to enter the McDonald’s in Brewer when some guy by the exit got out of his car and started screaming at something or someone out of sight. He looked ready to kill anyone, so we ducked inside for burgers and fries.
In the Dunkin’ Doughnuts drive thru a relative ahead of us paid for our coffee. When we reached the window the attendant apologized and scurried to get the coffee. A woman started yelling behind us. She was out of the car hurling expletives deleted until we finally got the coffee and moved on. Briefly, she stopped as we regrouped and told us “you shouldn’t have held up the line.” She exited the lot jerking a long finger above her shoulder, leaving us a little stunned.
Wasn’t long ago a newspaper photographer crossed the Dunkin’ Donut store in Waterville and got a pistol pointed at his belly. It was a former legislature who mistook him for someone else.
Be advised: Even if the other doesn’t have right of way – let them have it. Don’t stare at anyone, especially if they pull up alongside you in traffic and glare at you. And, don’t make comments about anyone’s car or stickers especially when stopped for the lights. And, the hardest part of all, don’t curse someone for doing something stupid.
Not all are hatchet carriers or pistol wavers. But I wouldn’t take any chances. In this drugged-up and wiped out society you can never tell who is in the car beside you, or, behind you.
insurance com release a study that found Bangor Maine to be on the top 10 List for “The most dangerous cities to drive” in the US. I would suspect more road rage than this going on. Also as a pedestrian there are many times I’ve been nearly hit by an inconsiderate driver. Or watched as some driver was inconsiderate to others. I’m not condoning his road rage. But it’s not surprising that it occurred. Specially in one of the worst cities to drive in.
turn that frown upside down! lol