Owls Head man arrested for assault; victim fires gun as warning to escape scene

Mon, 09/26/2016 - 2:45pm

    ROCKLAND — A man from Owls Head was arrested Sept. 20 for allegedly threatening to shoot two men and injuring one during a fight.

    Joshua Haskell, 28, was arrested by the Knox County Sheriff’s Office for assault, criminal threatening and violating a condition of release from a previous charge of terrorizing in August 2016.

    Haskell pleaded not guilty during his initial court appearance Sept. 21 in Knox County Unified Court. He was released on $1,000 cash bail.

    According to the police affidavit filed by Deputy Paul Spear, a man reported an altercation he had with Haskell when he went to his house with another man to retrieve his belongings. The victim said that he got into a fight with Haskell about his recent charge of terrorizing and during the argument, Haskell attempted to strike him with a fire extinguisher but missed.

    The victim was finally able to hold Haskell on the floor. He said that Haskell allegedly threatened to shoot him in the face.

    When the second man came inside the house, he attempted to break up the fight. He said Haskell bit the victim’s finger and also allegedly reached for a handgun that his girlfriend picked up and removed from the scene, according to the court documents.

    Police noted in their report that along with the injured finger, the victim had cuts and scrapes to his forearm and left hand.

    According to the court documents, as they left the scene, one of the men took his own gun from a lunch box where it was stored in the house and left his belongings behind. Haskell then emerged from the house as they were backing out of the driveway and appeared to retrieve something from his truck. He ran toward their vehicle so the man with the gun fired a shot into the ground as a warning so they could get away. The men said they feared Haskell would have attacked them with a rock or something similar.

    Haskell’s next court appearance is scheduled for Dec. 15.

    Sarah Shepherd can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com