BANGOR, Maine — A Hampden man remained Monday night at the Penobscot County Jail unable to post $7,500 bail after being charged in connection with a shooting that wounded one man on Saturday afternoon at a Hampden trailer park.
Rodger Penmen, 53, made his first court appearance Monday afternoon by video conference in Newport District Court on one count each of aggravated assault with a firearm, a Class B crime; criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, a Class C crime; and criminal mischief, a Class D crime, according to the Penobscot County district attorney’s office.
Bail conditions include no contact with the victim in the case, no possession of intoxicants and no possession of dangerous weapons, including firearms, according to James Aucoin, assistant district attorney for Penobscot County.
The hearing was held in Newport because of a power outage at the Penobscot Judicial Center in Bangor.
District Court Judge John Lucy did not ask Penmen to enter pleas to the charges because he has not yet been indicted by the Penobscot County grand jury. Aucoin said that did not stop Penmen from denying pulling the trigger Saturday.
The grand jury is next scheduled to convene on March 23.
Penmen has a violent criminal history, including a 1988 manslaughter conviction in Utah and a 2004 conviction for aggravated assault in Penobscot County. He was sentenced to 15 years for manslaughter and to 3½ years in prison in Maine for the aggravated assault.
The incident that led to the latest charges occurred about 5 p.m. Saturday at Hampden Trailer Park on Main Road, Sgt. Scott Webber of the Hampden Police Department said Saturday evening.
The victim was shot once in the left thigh but is not believed to have a life-threatening injury, Webber said. The victim was taken by ambulance to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor but was expected to recover.
According to the officer, the man who was shot is a Newburgh resident who was visiting a friend at the trailer park when the incident occurred. Penmen and the victim’s friend have a history of not getting along, Webber said, and the confrontation occurred when the friend objected to Penmen walking through the yard of the friend’s trailer.
Aucoin said Monday witnesses told police that Penmen pulled out a pistol and shot at an individual outside but missed. The bullet went through the wall of a trailer and struck the victim, the prosecutor said.
Webber said Saturday that Penmen left on foot and went to another man’s trailer in the park.
Officers from Hampden Police Department, Maine State Police and Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department quickly arrived and, with information provided by other residents, determined which trailer Penmen was in. After police announced themselves outside the trailer, Penmen came out peacefully and was taken into custody, Webber said.
Penmen is next scheduled to appear before a judge on April 11.
Because he is a felon and prohibited from possessing a gun, Penmen also could face federal firearms charges.
If convicted on the state charges, Penmen faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000 on the most serious charge of aggravated assault with a firearm.
BDN writer Bill Trotter contributed to this report.