A Damariscotta man has been sentenced to 60 days in jail and two years of probation for assaulting a neighbor with a shovel in July.
Norman A. Palmer, 26, pleaded no contest to class B aggravated assault and class E violating condition of release Aug. 28, according to court documents.
Palmer confronted a neighbor late July 23 in the mobile home park off Egypt Road where both men live, according to a police report by Damariscotta Officer Jason Warlick.
Palmer accused the 21-year-old man of insulting Palmer’s girlfriend, according to the report. The neighbor told police he denied the accusation, but Palmer, with a metal spade, hit him several times in the ribs and elsewhere on his body.
The neighbor also told police that Palmer strangled him. A friend of the neighbor witnessed the incident and gave police a similar account. Warlick photographed cuts and bruises on the neighbor consistent with his description of the shovel strikes.
Palmer was sentenced to three years with all but 60 days suspended, plus two years of probation for the aggravated assault charge, with a concurrent 60-day sentence for the violating condition of release charge.
His probation conditions mandate treatment for mental health issues, prohibit contact with the victim, prohibit the possession or use of alcohol, and require Palmer to submit to random search and testing.
Palmer was sentenced to another concurrent 60-day jail sentence for domestic violence assault in a separate case. He had pleaded guilty to the class D crime June 5.
As part of a plea bargain, the district attorney’s office agreed to drop the domestic violence assault charge if Palmer followed certain conditions for a year. Palmer violated the agreement with the July assault.
The victim in the domestic violence assault was the same woman Palmer accused his neighbor of insulting.
