AUBURN — Police arrested the man witnesses saw running from a Clover Lane home Tuesday night, chasing a woman with a long kitchen knife and yelling, “I’m gonna kill you!”
Eric Griffey, 44, of 27 Clover Lane was charged with elevated aggravated assault, a Class A felony, punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
Griffey was apparently angered by the way his girlfriend had been interacting with their son’s baseball coach, a long-simmering matter, police said.
Judge Richard Mulhern set bail Wednesday in 8th District Court in Lewiston at $250,000 cash. Terms of Griffey’s release include no alcohol and dangerous weapons for which he can be searched at random. He would not be allowed contact with the victim, their son and two others.
Assistant District Attorney Nathan Walsh had sought a “high cash bail,” saying, “This could have very easily been a charge of murder.”
Griffey’s girlfriend, Kellie Cardona, 41, was taken to Central Maine Medical Center with several stab wounds. She was listed in good condition Wednesday morning.
Moen said the couple’s 5-year-old son, who was home at the time of the attack, has since been placed with relatives.
When police arrived at Clover Lane just after 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, they found Griffey being restrained by a neighbor who’d seen the attack. The good Samaritan’s name wasn’t being released, Moen said.
Witnesses said Cardona and Griffey were covered with blood and that several men had helped tackle him.
Auburn Police Detective Terrence McCormick wrote in a sworn statement that one of the neighbors was holding Griffey on the ground when police arrived. Others were attending to Cardona.
The neighbor told police he was in his yard when saw Cardona running from her home yelling for help. He saw Griffey chasing Cardona while clutching a knife. Cardona fell on the ground and Griffey jumped on top of her, said the neighbor, who grabbed Griffey by the neck and succeeded in pulling him off Cardona.
The neighbor was able to wrest the knife from Griffey and tossed it toward another neighbor.
That neighbor went to the aid of Cardona.
A third witness said he was in his car when he witnessed the assault and heard Griffey yell: “I’m going to kill the b****!” That witness retrieved the knife and turned it over to police.
Cardona told police she had been with Griffey for about eight years and they own their home jointly. She said there had been no history of domestic violence, but he had taken medication to “control his thoughts.”
Griffey had been drinking Tuesday and the couple had a heated discussion about the interaction between Cardona and their son’s baseball coach. When Griffey started yelling at Cardona, upsetting their son, she told Griffey to leave.
She said Griffey tackled her in the kitchen, pulled her hair and punched her face several times with his fist. She got to her feet, but he was holding her by her hair, she told police. He slammed her head on the counter and against cabinets, she said.
He put a knife to her neck and said they would both die. When he let her go to attend to their son, she went into the bathroom to clean her injuries, she said.
Griffey followed her to the bathroom, locked the door and said he was going to kill himself. She calmed him down and persuaded him to let her leave the bathroom, she told police.
When he unlocked the door, she fled the bathroom and ran out of the home. He chased her out the door, caught up to her and knocked her down.
He stabbed her legs, hip and chest repeatedly, according to the police statement. She also had a large contusion on her forehead and a small cut on her eye.
Griffey, who was checked at the hospital for injuries, declined to talk to police.
Police said they saw a large pool of blood in the middle of the kitchen floor, along with bloody smears and clumps of hair along the floor and on the counters and cabinets.
Evidence of blood and hair in the bathroom also were consistent with Cardona’s account of events.
Detective McCormick wrote in his statement: “I believe Griffey intended to kill Cardona and would have succeeded if not for the intervention of the neighbors.”
Griffey had been at Androscoggin County Jail held on $25,000 cash bail before the judge raised it to 10 times the amount.
Defense attorney Richard Charest said Griffey is a lifelong resident of Maine with “significant ties to the community.” Griffey has a “limited” criminal record and is self-employed as an insurance agent.
Charest said Griffey’s work has been “spotty” recently and he would have a hard time posting more than $1,000 bail.
If released, Griffey would live with his brother locally, Charest said.
Griffey didn’t enter a plea in court Wednesday because a felony charge must be brought by a grand jury in order for the case to go to trial.
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