The Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office has dismissed felony charges brought against two men from Portland’s West End whose quarrel over a woman last Memorial Day left one with a serious gunshot wound, according to court records.

Samuel Iserbyt, 49, of Chadwick Street, was shot in the thigh during a confrontation with Fred O. Dodge, 48, of Hill Street, outside Iserbyt’s home on May 30, 2016. Iserbyt nearly bled to death after the bullet struck his femoral artery.

Both men were indicted in December on the same charges: criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon and reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon. Each charge is a class C felony, punishable by up to five years in prison, a $5,000 fine or both.

Each man was also named as the victim of the other in the indictments. The charges were dismissed in April because each had said that he would invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination if called to testify at the other man’s trial.

In a previous interview, Iserbyt said he and Dodge had been quarreling over a woman. Both men were armed when Dodge walked to Iserbyt’s home, where Iserbyt was waiting for him on the front porch.

Iserbyt was shot when he and Dodge struggled over Iserbyt’s handgun.

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In court filings, Iserbyt alleged that police only charged him because he had begun the process to bring a civil lawsuit against the District Attorney’s Office and police for their handling of the case.

Iserbyt’s attorney also requested that a judge suppress comments that Iserbyt made immediately following the shooting while he was still hospitalized.

A judge never ruled on those motions because the cases were both dismissed in April, nearly two months before the next hearing was scheduled in Iserbyt’s case.

Matt Byrne can be contacted at:

mbyrne@pressherald.com


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