An Old Town man allegedly assaulted and kidnapped his mother on Thursday before fleeing, leading to an hours-long manhunt.
Nathan Lagasse, 27, is charged with one felony count each of elevated aggravated assault, kidnapping, domestic violence aggravated assault and aggravated assault. He is charged with one misdemeanor count of obstructing a report of a crime.
He had his first appearance on Friday afternoon in Penobscot County Court. He did not enter a plea, which is standard in felony cases. The charges will be presented to a grand jury that will decide whether or not to indict him.
Lagasse is accused of stabbing his mother at her home on Poplar Street in Old Town. He had lived with her for about nine months, Assistant Penobscot County District Attorney Joanne Lewis said.
The Bangor Daily News is not naming the woman because it does not identify victims of a crime without consent.
The assaults started around 5:30 a.m. Thursday, while the woman was sleeping in bed, according to a police report filed in court records. Lagasse tried to hit his mother in the head with a 25-pound barbell weight, but missed because she was covered in sheets, she told police. He hit her shoulder, which woke her up and she started fighting back, but he was able to hit her in the head with the weight.
He stabbed and scratched her with a butter knife for about 10 minutes. Once he got tired, she tried to reason with him and she convinced him to let her make him coffee, the woman told police. He later wanted to go for a drive, and she felt like she had to go with him.
They drove around for about two hours before returning to the home, the report said. The woman was able to go to sleep before Lagasse woke her up because he wanted her to go to a marijuana shop with him.
The woman said no and he eventually left, taking his mother’s cellphone. She used her laptop to message a friend for help and that person called 911 around 11:12 a.m., she told police.
Police spent hours searching for Lagasse, using two helicopters to search wooded areas, and set up road closures on Thursday. An Orono police officer found Lagasse walking near the disc golf course on Kelley Road around 12:30 a.m. Friday and arrested him, according to a probable cause affidavit.
When police arrived at the Poplar Street house, they found the woman had stab wounds to her head and an inch-long cut on her arm. Her eye was swollen, the report said. The woman told hospital staff that Lagasse tried to gouge out her eye with the butter knife.
Lagasse was granted a $50,000 cash bail and part of his conditions include that he cannot have contact with his mother. Lagasse does not have any money to post bail, his defense attorney Mary Gray said.
The state asked for Lagasse, who is held at the Penobscot County Jail, to have a mental competency examination.