Orono officials want to make changes after what residents say are a trend of disturbances in the town, days after four people were accused of committing an assault.
The alleged assault happened on Crosby Street shortly after midnight on Sunday, Orono Police Chief Daniel Merrill said. Four people were issued summonses for misdemeanor assault.
A resident who identified himself as the husband of the man who was allegedly assaulted spoke at an Orono Town Council meeting Monday and asked the town to make changes. He said people in the Webster neighborhood have felt unsafe for a while, but this elevated the concerns.
“We’re a community where that doesn’t happen very often, so whenever there’s an incident of violence in our neighborhoods, it has a profound impact and leads to lasting memories,” council chairman Dan Demerritt told the Bangor Daily News.
Police have released no details about the events that led to the summonses being issued this past weekend, but multiple residents spoke during a nearly hour-long conversation about the alleged assault and other complaints regarding University of Maine student activity during the town council meeting.
Late Saturday night and early Sunday morning the four people were trespassing when a man went outside to tell them to move along and took his phone out, according to the man’s husband. The four people started assaulting the man, his husband said.
The BDN is not naming the men because it does not identify victims of crimes. The man who spoke at the town council meeting declined to talk to a BDN reporter on Thursday.
They pulled the man to the ground, and were repeatedly punching and kicking him in the upper body, his husband said. They were also attempting to strangle him, blocking his airway for several seconds at a time.
“While they were doing this they were yelling homophobic slurs at him,” the man’s husband said.
A neighbor came outside and pulled them off the man, his husband said. The husband called 911 and Orono fire and police departments responded, along with the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office.
Orono police issued summonses to four people for Class D assault and will submit the case to the Penobscot County District Attorney’s Office once the investigation is complete, Merrill said. He declined to provide information about the man’s injuries because the investigation is ongoing.
The people issued summons are Summer Blaisdell, age 21; Charles Carroll, age 19; Marcus Paes, age 19; and Braeden Cunningham, age 19.
The University of Maine would not confirm if the four people are students and deferred comment to the police department.
Regarding ongoing complaints about student activity in Orono, Demerritt said he wants to streamline the language of town ordinances this summer to make it easier for residents to know when to call police.
Town Manager Clint Deschene will bring ideas to the May 12 council meeting for next steps and creative solutions they can explore, including public engagement sessions.
“Overall community safety and harmony is always on Orono’s topics to make sure we do the best we can and the most we can,” Deschene said. “I think this has brought it to light again and we want to do another review and see where we are and what else we could do.”