WATERVILLE — A Waterville man was arrested early Thursday after he allegedly assaulted his ex-wife at his Hillside Avenue apartment and then left his young children there alone to follow her to Clinton, according to police.

Paul Rice, 33, of 13 Hillside Ave., Apt. A, was charged with aggravated assault, a class B felony, and obstructing report of injury, a class D misdemeanor, and was taken to Kennebec County jail in Augusta after his arrest, said Waterville Deputy police Chief Charles Rumsey.

Rumsey said Rice’s wife, who lives in Clinton and whose name was not released by police, suffered minor injuries. The incident kept Waterville and Winslow police busy for several hours, from late Wednesday night into early Thursday morning.

“It was very serious, and we were concerned by the level of violence that was involved in the alleged assault and also the fact that he went to lengths to avoid arrest and was able to get back into the apartment where he abandoned his children,” Rumsey said. “We are glad he was apprehended without anybody being hurt.”

The incident began Wednesday between 7 and 10 p.m., when Rice’s ex-wife went to his apartment to see their children, who are 1 and 5, and to bring them some items, according to Rumsey. Hillside is a short street in the city’s North End that goes from Main Street, just north of Grondin’s cleaners, to Brook Street.

“While she was there, they had an argument that escalated into a physical altercation,” Rumsey said. “During the physical altercation, Rice was alleged to have choked his estranged wife and assaulted her in other ways, including kicking her and poking her in the face around the eyes with his fingers.”

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Rice also took her phone so she could not call the police for help, he said.

“She remained in the house for about three hours before she convinced him to let her leave,” he said. “She traveled to her residence in Clinton and called police. One of our officers went to Clinton, contacted her and interviewed her and gathered information.”

The officer, Robert Bouley, conferred with a police supervisor, and they determined there was probable cause to charge Rice with aggravated assault and obstructing report of injury, so several officers went to Rice’s apartment to try to find him, Rumsey said. He was not there, so Bouley started driving back to Waterville from Clinton to help find him, he said.

Bouley called Rice’s ex-wife back to get information about where Rice might have gone, and while he was on the phone with her, Rice showed up at her house, according to Rumsey.

“He allegedly kicked in the door, and she ran out a different door and tried to get into her car,” Rumsey said. “He chased her and confronted her at the car. She told him, ‘I’m on the phone with police.'”

At that point, Rice fled, police said.

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Waterville police requested assistance from Winslow officers, who helped search for Rice.

Meanwhile, Rice drove his vehicle to Chaplin Street near Hillside, parked it, walked to his apartment and went in through a back door. The children were inside, unsupervised.

Police surrounded the house and tried to draw Rice out by talking to him through a public address system that was in a cruiser. At 4:30 a.m., he relented, according to Rumsey.

“He came out and surrendered himself to us and was arrested,” he said.

He was taken to Kennebec County jail in Augusta and is scheduled to appear in Kennebec County Superior Court next month, according to Rumsey.

“We notified the state Department of Health and Human Services about his leaving his children alone, and state police are investigating his actions up in Clinton to determine what crimes he will be charged with for his course of conduct,” he said.

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He added that the children were later picked up by their mother.

Amy Calder — 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @AmyCalder17


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