A North Haven man was arrested over the weekend for an assault that police say left another island man in critical condition.
Kaleb Campbell, 22, was charged with both elevated aggravated assault and aggravated assault, according to court documents. Campbell made his initial court appearance on the charges Monday afternoon where a judge set bail at $5,000 cash.
Police received a report of an assault around 9:20 p.m. Friday. The Knox County sheriff’s deputy stationed on North Haven responded and found a badly beaten 19-year-old man being treated by the island’s emergency medical staff.
The alleged assault took place after the victim and Campbell had been working on fishing gear and drinking at Campbell’s home. While the victim was showing Campbell a photo of a naked woman he had on his phone, Campbell saw another naked photo of a woman he knew. Campbell told police he became irate and began punching the victim in the head, according to an affidavit from the Knox County Sheriff’s Office.
The victim told police that Campbell told him to “run or he was going to shoot him,” the affidavit stated. Campbell told police the victim wouldn’t leave, so he fired off three shots from a 9 mm handgun into the air.
The victim was able to run down the road to a neighbor’s house and the neighbor called 911.
The victim suffered extensive head injuries that caused him to vomit and lose consciousness, according to the sheriff’s office. The man was airlifted to Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, where he was placed in the intensive care unit.
It is unclear what the victim’s condition was as of Monday.
Knox County Sheriff Tim Carroll said Monday afternoon that he has heard that the victim was doing better and has been released from the hospital, but had not recently gotten an official update on his condition. Campbell’s defense attorney also told the judge presiding over Monday’s hearing that he believed the victim had been released from the hospital.
A hospital representative could not release any information pertaining to the victim, including whether or not he was still at the hospital, late Monday afternoon.
Assistant District Attorney Kathryn King had requested that Campbell’s bail be set at $50,000 and that he be prohibited from returning to North Haven while the case was ongoing if he posted bail. Campbell’s attorney, Christopher MacLean, objected to this bail condition, stating that Campbell has lived his whole life on North Haven, has no family to stay with on the mainland and as a fisherman, needed to return to the island for work.
The judge rejected the condition to bar Campbell from returning to North Haven. However, he is requiring that Campbell be placed on house arrest while the case is ongoing and can only leave his home for work, medical or legal reasons.