AUGUSTA — Police arrested a Chelsea man early Friday morning after he allegedly threatened to shoot several people at a home on Mud Mill Road and drove a vehicle while intoxicated.
Michael C. Swift, 29, was charged with terrorizing and operating under the influence (alcohol), after police located him in a different part of the city, according to an affidavit filed by Officer Derek Daley at the Capital Judicial Center.
Police took Swift to the Kennebec County jail, and he had his initial court appearance Friday.
Officers first went to Mud Mill Road around 1:07 a.m. Friday after receiving a complaint that a man was standing outside a home and making threats.
The complaint indicated that the man — later identified as Swift — had firearms and was yelling that he was going to “blow their heads off,” Daley wrote.
The affidavit did not indicate whether Swift had a firearm, and Lt. Chris Read would not confirm that detail in an interview.
A few hours before Swift made those alleged threats, he reportedly had parked his car at a nearby house, then spent about three hours driving it up and down Mud Mill Road, doing what sounded like burnouts, according to police.
Late Thursday night or early Friday, two men who lived on Mud Mill Road approached Swift’s vehicle to flag him down and ask if he could stop driving through the area, the two men later told police.
“They tried to get the vehicle to stop due to the fact that they had children at their residence and were concerned,” Daley wrote.
Swift reportedly drove off, but then returned five minutes later and pulled into a lot near 398 Mud Mill Road, in the vicinity of a cemetery.
At that point, Swift allegedly approached one of the men and yelled, “I have a gun” and “if you come any closer, I’ll blow your faces off,” Daley wrote.
Upon hearing the alleged threat, the men became scared, retreated into their house and called 911, according to the affidavit. Police did not indicate how many people were at the house or had been outside when Swift made the alleged threats.
Another officer stopped Swift’s car Friday morning, and officers smelled alcohol on him and thought his speech was slurred, according to the affidavit.
They administered a field sobriety test, then gave him a breath test that reportedly showed his alcohol level to be at least 0.15 percent, which is almost double the allowable level of 0.08 percent, according to a complaint filed at the Capital Judicial Center.
Later Friday, during Swift’s initial court appearance via video feed from the jail, Justice Donald Marden told him he was charged with terrorizing, a class C felony, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. Swift, who was wearing an orange jail jumpsuit, also was charged with operating under the influence.
The assistant district attorney, Chris Coleman, requested that Swift’s bail be set at $5,000 cash with a Maine Pretrial Services contract and a curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Stephen Bourget, who was representing Swift as lawyer of the day, told Marden that Swift was not prepared to argue for bail at this point and would reserve that right for court-appointed counsel.
The judge set bail as requested by the state. Swift’s next court hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sept. 12.
Staff Writer Betty Adams contributed reporting.
Charles Eichacker — 621-5642
Twitter: @ceichacker
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