WATERVILLE — A city man who allegedly attacked another man with a hammer Thursday in a Union Street apartment over a drug dispute remained in jail Tuesday awaiting a court hearing in December.

Zachary S. Larrabee, 31, of 19 College Ave., was arrested Thursday and charged with aggravated assault, a Class B felony, and criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, a Class C felony. His bail was set at $3,000 and he is to appear Dec. 15 in Kennebec County Superior Court in Augusta.

Police Chief Joseph Massey said Tuesday that while police have completed the case as it relates to the assault, they continue to investigate the drug angle, but no one else has been charged.

“We’re still looking into the drug end of it,” Massey said Tuesday. “The assault itself is a done deal.”

On Thursday, Larrabee reportedly went to 11 Union St. and struck a man on the head with a hammer. Larrabee at the time also was carrying an Airsoft handgun powered with CO2, or compressed air in the cartridge that propels a pellet. The victim was taken to the hospital and treated for a slight gash by his left ear and a bump on his head from the attack, and he is OK, according to Massey.

Police got a report of the assault at 10:20 a.m. Thursday and responded to Union Street, a short street connecting College Avenue with Front Street, and closed each end of the street. Central Fire Station is at the corner of College Avenue and Main streets, diagonally across the street from where the attack occurred.

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Police talked with people in the community and were able to identify the attacker and found him later at his College Avenue apartment. He was uncooperative and would not tell police much, denying he had struck anyone, according to Massey.

Later, when police interviewed Larrabee, he admitted to being at the Union Street apartment but denied he hit anyone. Police found the hammer and handgun in a trash can in the common area of 11 Union St., Massey said.

Meanwhile, a police affidavit filed with the court in the assault case says witnesses told police that Larrabee wanted to buy cocaine and gave money to someone to purchase it, but a man diluted it and Larrabee became angry, triggering the hammer assault.

Neighbors in the area said police go to that apartment building frequently. Deputy police Chief Bill Bonney said officers have responded there nine times since May, once for a report of someone ingesting drugs in the parking lot, but police were not able to find the person and could not corroborate the report at the time, according to Bonney.

Amy Calder — 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @AmyCalder17


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