CARTHAGE – A 40-year-old man is charged with felony assault after police say he stabbed another man with a screwdriver on Sunday.
Peter Gallant of Dixfield, was arrested by Franklin County Sheriff’s Deputy Nate Reid and charged with aggravated assault following an alleged altercation over an unpaid bill.
According to Reid’s report, Gallant said he had completed electrical work at a residence on Westside Road in Carthage and dropped by on Sunday to collect the money he felt he was owed.
The resident reportedly refused to pay up and Gallant left and then returned with a screwdriver with the intent, he told police, to unhook the resident’s electrical service, according to Reid’s incident report.
A physical altercation then ensued and in the struggle, the resident was stabbed in the arm with the screwdriver, Reid said. The man required medical attention at a hospital and Gallant was arrested and taken to the Franklin County Detention Center in Farmington.
Bail was set at $300 and Gallant was released on Monday. A court date of May 15 has been scheduled.
shocking
Wonder if he had a permit to carry that screwdriver. Carrying a loaded screwdriver in public should be against the law.
Perhaps Gallant did not kinow about mechanic’s liens.
Do you suppose the government might want to ban screwdrivers or limit the length that a pperson can own???
Mr Reid, if this man was actually owed money for services he should not have to go through the hassle and expense of placing a mechanics lien. Maybe people would think twice about stiffing a contractor if they knew they might get poked by a screwdriver.
If the Bulldog did an article about the home and garden show the crackpots would find a way to work their gun paranoia into the conversation. Very useful.
So, he was in someone’s home on a Sunday to collect money owed to him. Doesn’t that seem just a little off? Contractors usually send bills. He should have been arrested for trespass.
Unfortunatley I think we will be hearing of more situations like this. Money is very tight in the area and basically no one is paying their bills on time or at all. Accounts recievable are bleeding mom and pop stores and mechanical contractors to death. Its not hardly worth taking non payers to court after all the attorny and court fees. Also most attornys would rather not deal with small claims court, I dont really know why, probably not as much money and certainly not the headlines/glory in it. Stabbing someone is certainly not the answer but I can see why he might feel stuck in his situation. Contractors will be pushed to the point where they wont be able to extend credit to anyone period.
Pay your bills.
The truth is, If I owe a person money, I don’t need a bill to pay my debt, I just pay it. If he would have done the same, none of this would have happend
If you walk out of a store without paying for an item it is theft. If you say “put it on my tab” then never pay the bill it is not theft. It is then up to the store owner to spend money and time to get what they are owed. Something wrong here.
Mr. Firsching has hit the bullseye with his observation.
Maine needs to ban all “assault” screwdrivers!
You first amendment crackpots always find a way to work in your freedom of speach angle. No matter what the news article is.
Mr. Firsching and Mr. Martin…nail on head
Thanks Mr. Mackey. I really dont understand why we need this Bill of Rights thing anyway. When was the last time that any government ever over stepped their bounds ? All those amendments have to be obsolete in this day and age, true?
Read the d*** article. Nowhere is there mention of guns. Nowhere.
The gun thing won’t go away and until we recognize that it’s not just about guns. So even you complainers of the first amendment should get over it.
A couple of things well said. If you owe someone money do you really need a bill to pay it. Money is tight for a lot of people. How about if you can’t pay for it… Don’t buy the service… And of course theft is theft and assault is assault…
Now lets stay focused. A person was injured when an alleged scuffle broke out. It is in the hands of the court. Innocent until proven guilty. And by the way. Shame on you people who have had no financial hardship and think everything is just rosy.
Bob Martin, first amendment crackpots. Are you sure about that? CEO, “shocking”really. Wake up.
Thank you, folks, for bringing up the absurdity of those who patrol these boards looking for places to insert their opinion on gun control. There’s always a really obnoxious analogy involved (“assault screwdrivers”…ha ha). We get it. You don’t want the government messing around with your assault rifles. But realize that despite the frequency of your comments on these boards that you are in a minority. A large poll just came out this morning (http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/02/17572210-morning-joe-poll-60-percent-of-americans-want-stricter-gun-laws?lite) showing that the majority of Americans continue to favor sensible gun control. Now, if this were truly a democracy that majority might mean something but DON”T YOU WORRY, the NRA is doing their very best to buy the votes for you. Also, let’s not pretend that the NRA is the voice of the little gun owner. The NRA is the voice of the gun manufacturers (http://www.businessinsider.com/gun-industry-funds-nra-2013-1). If you want to be up in arms about something (pun intended) let it be that–that large corporations get to decide policy for this country when their sole motivation is to make more money for their shareholders.
The economy sucks, people are still out of work, does this give ether of these people the right to do what they did? NO
We just had a contractor here to give us an estimate for a new roof and he told us about a job he just recently finished for some people who as he was putting his tools into his truck they locked the door behind him and would not answer the door when he returned.
What is wrong with people who have work done and then refuse to pay?
You do work, you are entitled to payment.
If you don’t pay then you are steeling, plain and simple.
As far as this case goes I am sure we will see more of this as time goes on because the economy is getting worse not better as the government likes to make you think. The government IS THE PROBLEM, they are spending money they don’t have. If I write a check and don’t have the money to cover it then I am breaking the law. But not the government, they have their own set of rules for themselves.
If you live in dear,sweet Franklin county with the finest and best folks in the world,and you live in constant fear and terror,you will never have ENOUGH guns. This is sad beyond belief. And your ashamed to sign your screeds?
To those anonymous keyboard commandos : If you are ashamed of your words,why might you imagine we’re interested in reading them?
Um, there is a big difference between guns and screwdrivers. If a gun had been involved this would have been murder.
I hope the govt bans guns. “But its my God given fight to bear arms!” Well, God isn’t real.
At Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, the Ohio National Guard on Monday, May 4, 1970 fired 67 rounds over a period of 13 seconds at unarmed college students killing four students and wounding nine others, one of whom suffered permanent paralysis. Just a reminder of what has happened before, and what could happen again if we are defenseless…
An opinion is just an opinion. Just because you post your name doesn’t mean that your opinion is any more important than somebody that doesn’t. I don’t need to stand up and shout my name for all to hear to make myself feel important.