WISCASSET, Maine — Charges of aggravated assault and tampering with a witness against a Nobleboro man have been dismissed because the victim apparently “disappeared.”
“Unfortunately our victim seems to have disappeared,” Assistant District Attorney Andrew Wright said April 14. “After multiple attempts to try to contact her at multiple locations and phone numbers, we were simply unable to find her or contact her.
“Obviously without the victim we couldn’t prosecute the case,” he said.
Theodore E. Poland, 47, was arrested Aug. 29 after he allegedly punched the victim in the mouth and attempted to strangle her until she couldn’t breathe, according to an affidavit by Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Chubbuck.
The woman said she was able to get away after allegedly kicking Poland in the throat, Chubbuck wrote.
According to Chubbuck’s affidavit, an argument started between Poland and the woman Aug. 28 after Poland “was upset because of the balance on her food stamp card and there was no money left over to buy dinner.”
After the alleged assault the woman left the residence, but Poland followed her in his truck and demanded to give her a ride to Bremen, according to the affidavit.
On the ride to Bremen, Poland told the woman not to call the police, according to the affidavit.
When Chubbuck located Poland on Aug. 29, Poland alleged the woman assaulted him and he did not touch her.
A Lincoln County grand jury indicted Poland on the aggravated assault and tampering charges in December.
Poland’s attorney, William Avantaggio, said there were two different stories about what occurred, and he thought there had been changes to the witness’s account.
“But in the end she wasn’t available to testify, so the state had to make a decision with that information,” he said.