AUBURN — A Poland man is suing his nephew, who was convicted of stabbing him last year, and the bar where the two had been drinking before the attack.
Steven Narbonne filed a complaint last month in Androscoggin County Superior Court, claiming he suffered serious and permanent injuries and incurred medical and related expenses. He also claimed he endured pain, suffering, emotional distress and loss of enjoyment of life as a result of the stabbing.
In addition to naming his nephew, Phillip Audet, in the lawsuit, Narbonne is suing the owners of the bar, Shooters Sports Pub on Lewiston Street in Mechanic Falls, and three bartenders who worked there.
Audet was found guilty of aggravated assault after a three-day trial and was sentenced to eight years in prison, with three years of that sentence suspended. When he is released, he will be on probation for three years.
The trial stemmed from a July 6, 2014, incident at Narbonne’s Torrey Road home in Poland where Audet had been staying. The two men had been drinking since 4 p.m. and continued at the bar until it closed at 1 a.m. They returned to Narbonne’s house, where the stabbing occurred in the kitchen with a butcher’s knife.
Audet, who was 30 at the time of the trial, testified that his actions were in self-defense.
Narbonne sustained a foot-long knife wound in his side that cut a rib.
Narbonne had dragged himself across the road to a neighbor’s home, leaving a trail of blood in his wake, and collapsed on their living room floor. The son of the couple who owned that house found the front door open and entered the home early in the morning and discovered Narbonne’s bloody body.
He was rushed to a Lewiston hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery.
Narbonne incurred more than $64,000 in medical bills related to his injuries.
The trial judge ordered Audet to pay restitution for his uncle’s medical expenses, as well as $8,000 to Narbonne’s auto insurance company, which covered the cost of his destroyed vehicle.
After stabbing his uncle, Audet had fled the home in Narbonne’s car, which he abandoned along the Maine Turnpike in Gray after ruining the transmission. His whereabouts were traced to a wooded area in Portland through his cellphone. A dog led police to Audet’s hiding place.
In answer to Narbonne’s complaint, Audet denied all of Narbonne’s claims.
One of the bartenders named in the suit, Dannyel Poulin of Mechanic Falls, denied having worked during the time the two men had been drinking at the bar on July 5 and 6, 2014.
As of Thursday, the owners and two of the bartenders named in the suit had not answered the complaint.
cwilliams@sunjournal.com
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