HOULTON, Maine — A 20-year-old Houlton man was hospitalized Sept. 10 after he was struck multiple times in the head with a baseball bat.
James Schneider was taken to the Houlton Regional Hospital for a serious head injury and later transferred to the Eastern Maine Medical Center. Attempts to get a status update on him were not successful by presstime.
According to Lt. Dan Pelletier of the Houlton Police Department, police were called to Court Street, near the intersection of Leonard and Lawn streets, at about 3:44 p.m. for a report of an assault. Upon arrival, Houlton Officer Eric Sucy observed several individuals being restrained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers with one individual badly injured.
Reginald Dobbins, 18, of Houlton was charged with aggravated assault with a weapon.
“It was determined that Mr. Schneider had been assaulted with a baseball bat,” Pelletier said. “Witnesses reported seeing Schneider running away from several individuals and one of them had a baseball bat.”
Pelletier said the group managed to catch up to Schneider, at which time he drew a pocket knife and brandished it at Dobbins, who retaliated by striking him in the head. Pelletier said the motivation for the attack may have been “a drug deal gone bad.”
Dobbins was taken to the Aroostook County Jail and later released on bail. The other individuals involved have yet to be charged, but Pelletier said the case remains under investigation.
