AUGUSTA — A pair of men charged with assaulting their wives, including one who is pregnant, made their first appearance Friday in Augusta District Court.

Shane C. Rideout, 38, of Sidney is charged with domestic violence assault for allegedly pushing his pregnant wife to the ground.

Charles Douglas Buckingham, 54, of Augusta, is charged with aggravated domestic violence assault for allegedly choking his wife.

District Court Judge Patrick Ende ordered each man held on $2,500 cash bail. Conditions of release for both men prohibit them from seeing their spouses or returning home.

Police were called to Rideout’s home on West River Road shortly after 1 a.m. Friday. Kennebec County Sheriff Deputy Jacob Pierce, who responded to the report of a domestic dispute at the home, learned en route that Rideout’s wife is five months pregnant.

Rideout said he and his wife got into an argument that eventually took them outside, he made a gesture to provoke her, at which point she threw a cup of herbal tea onto him, Pierce wrote in an affidavit filed in court.

“In retaliation Shane Rideout used both hands and pushed (his wife) onto the ground,” Pierce wrote. The woman fell and hit her head. She then went back inside the house and called 911.

Rideout’s wife, who agreed with his retelling of events, told paramedics her head and backside were in pain, and that she had vaginal discharge that was not present before the alleged assault. The woman declined an ambulance to the hospital and said she would seek medical attention on her own.

Rideout has a number of domestic assault-related convictions going back to 2003. At least one of those assault was on a pregnant woman, Pierce wrote.

“Shane Rideout also stated that he had assaulted his previous wife, who was pregnant, and that a miscarriage resulted from the assault,” Pierce wrote.

District Attorney Maeghan Maloney said after Rideout’s court appearance that the investigation is ongoing and additional charges are possible.

Buckingham has no history of domestic violence, according to court records.

His wife called police to the couple’s Summerhaven Road home around 12:05 a.m. Thursday after Buckingham reportedly choked her, hit her and threw her belongings outside. She said she had locked herself in the bathroom and that Buckingham was in the living room, according to an affidavit filed by Augusta Police Officers Jonathan Provisor and Paul Frye.

Buckingham told police that his wife had been drinking and hit him earlier in the evening. He said he did not call police, Provisor wrote.

“Buckingham said this behavior continued and he warned her three times to quiet down or he was going to call police,” Provisor wrote. Buckingham said he called police around midnight.

Buckingham showed police three sheets of paper on which he allegedly documented the evening’s course of events, which did not indicate he had assaulted his wife, Provisor said. Buckingham also showed police a scab on his hand that he said his wife had caused.

Buckingham’s wife, however, gave a different account of events. She said her husband got angry because she was outside and yelled at her to go back inside. He was calling her names and threatening her and at one point threw her belongings into their car and told her to leave or he would call police, Provisor said.

Buckingham then reportedly grabbed the woman’s hair and choked her. Provisor said there were red marks and fresh bruising on her neck.

Frye wrote that Buckingham’s wife demonstrated how her husband choked her and said she had been unable to breathe. She said she was afraid, Frye wrote.

“Officer Provisor also reports that upon closer inspection of (the woman’s) neck he could see what appeared to be fresh bruising in the middle of her throat that was consistent with the length of a thumb,” Frye wrote.

Craig Crosby — 621-5642

ccrosby@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @CraigCrosby4

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