DATING VIOLENCE ARREST
USM Police arrested a student and charged him with assault and criminal restraint after a dorm room incident involving his ex-girlfriend.
Derek Butler, 19, of Anderson Hall, was arrested at 1:30 a.m. on March 8 after he allegedly slammed the woman against the wall of a dorm room. He then held her back from leaving the room, said USM Police Detective Ron Saindon.
Butler was taken to Cumberland County Jail and later released on $2,500 unsecured bond.
Saindon would not specify which dorm room the incident occurred in. He said there was “at least one other witness.”
The case was referred to the district attorney’s office. The charges fall under Maine’s domestic violence laws. Butler’s case will be reviewed by a special unit that handles domestic violence cases.
Saindon said USM Police take domestic violence cases “very seriously. That’s why we had [the March 1 domestic violence] forum to get the message out.” Saindon organized the forum, which discussed the legal and counseling resources available for victims of domestic violence.
Butler is scheduled for a March 29 arraignment in Portland District Court.
WOMEN’S BEST DEFENSE
The Greek Women’s Council and The Women’s Studies Program is sponsoring a two-part series about women’s self-defense and related issues in today’s society.
The first part of the series, “Defending Ourselves,” will feature a presentation by Associate Professor of Women’s Studies and Sociology Wendy Chapkis. Her presentation is titled, “Pleasure and Dangers: Women Defending Ourselves in the 21st Century.”
It will begin at 7 p.m., March 19 in the Brooks Student Center, Gorham.
The second part of the series, “Defending Yourself,” will consist of a workshop with Manager of Sexual Assault Services Jim Daniels. It will begin at 7 p.m., March 21 in the Hastings Formal Lounge, Gorham. Refreshments will be provided.
For more information contact the Women’s Resource Center at 780-4996.
COP CAR CHRISTENING
Someone threw a glass liquor bottle at USM’s parking control vehicle, which shattered the vehicle’s windshield early on the morning of March 8. The vehicle was parked outside the department’s Gorham campus station in Upton Hall and was damaged by an Ice 101 bottle.
Police do not have a suspect. The windshield cost $400 to replace, according to Detective Saindon.
UNINVITED
USM Police charged a student with three counts of criminal trespassing after he walked into three Dickey Hall dorm rooms, two of which were occupied.
Derek Goforth, 19, of Dickey Hall, received a summonson March 13, after he was accused of entering rooms on the third and fourth floors. Female residents were in two of the rooms, one by herself. The third room was not occupied, and its door had been left unlocked.
Detective Saindon declined to say what Goforth did in the rooms in case other witnesses come forward.
Police are not sure about Goforth’s motive. Alcohol appears to be a factor, said Saindon.
A court date was not listed in USM’s police log.
GIVE ME A LIFT
Someone placed a prank call to USM Police from the emergency phone inside Wood Hall’s elevator on March 8. Detective Saindon said the anonymous caller “babbled” and then hung up. Police did not obtain any leads and closed the case.