NORWAY — Bail was set at $1,000 cash, or personal recognizance with a Maine pretrial contract, Monday afternoon at 11th District Court for a Norway man charged with aggravated assault for the second time in four months.
Matthew J. Wightman, 31, was charged with Class B aggravated assault, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
His conditions of release included no contact with the victim, no possession of dangerous weapons, and being subject to random search and testing.
Wightman’s arrest on Friday came a little more than 24 hours after the state dismissed a separate aggravated assault charge stemming from an incident in May, where Wightman hit a man over the head with a shovel and threatened to slit a woman’s throat.
According to the dismissal form, the case was dismissed due to “insufficient evidence.”
Norway police officer Stephen Cronce wrote in an affidavit that on the evening of Friday, Sept. 24, he responded to a call at 17 Cottage St. that Wightman had stabbed a man with a knife during an altercation.
Cronce wrote that several people told him that Wightman cut the victim with a knife on the neck and his right arm.
The victim was taken to Stephens Memorial Hospital, where he received seven stitches and a cast for a severe arm sprain.
Cronce wrote that witnesses to the incident saw Wightman stab the victim while the victim was trying to defend himself. Another witness said that after Wightman stabbed the victim, he said he was going across the street to get a gun from his apartment.
Wightman said that he got into a fight with the victim after the victim, along with other people at 17 Cottage St., assaulted him first, Cronce wrote.
“Wightman states that he never pulled a knife on anyone,” Cronce added.
Cronce said he arrested Wightman, and after taking him back to the jail, Wightman admitted to drinking earlier that evening to celebrate his aggravated assault charge from May being dismissed.
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