A Waterville man who police say shot a pedestrian in the face with a BB gun in January has been indicted by a Kennebec County grand jury.

Cody A. Dutton, 21, of King Street has been charged with elevated aggravated assault, aggravated assault and reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon.

Handed up Thursday, the indictment alleges that on or about Jan. 22 in Waterville, Dutton intentionally or knowingly caused serious bodily injury to a man using a dangerous weapon — a “BB gun and-or a pellet gun and-or an Airsoft gun.”

Deputy Chief William Bonney of the Waterville Police Department said at the time the shooting was random and seriously injured the victim’s eye.

Dutton was arrested Jan. 24 and charged with elevated aggravated assault, a Class A offense, after police searched his home and found evidence related to the case, according to Bonney.

An indictment is not a determination of guilt, but indicates enough evidence exists for a case to proceed to trial.

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Dutton was also charged in January with multiple counts of criminal mischief related to cases the week before in Waterville, where windows were shot with BBs, according to Bonney.

The 38-year-old man who was shot was walking with friends near the intersection of Main and North streets.

After the shooting, the victim was taken by ambulance to the Thayer Center for Health on North Street in Waterville, according to Bonney.

Witnesses gave a description of the vehicle from which the BB gun was reportedly fired, and police began making connections with the BB gun incidents from the previous week, according to Bonney.

He said the shooting became a top priority for police when an innocent person was shot while walking down a street.

Bonney said there was no indication Dutton knew the man who was shot.

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Waterville Detective Chase Fabian was given the case Jan. 23, and quickly identified the vehicle and its owner, according to Bonney.

“We cleared several criminal mischief cases along with the elevated aggravated assault,” Bonney said in January.

Contacted Monday, Bonney wrote in an email that as a result of the criminal mischief, Dutton was charged with two counts of reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon and two counts of aggravated criminal mischief.

Bonney said after the shooting in January that three other people were inside the vehicle with Dutton when the shooting occurred, and police were considering other charges.

Bonney said Monday that as a result of the investigation, Janessa Smart-Arbour, 21, had been issued a summons and charged with one count each of aggravated criminal mischief and reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon.

Smart-Arbour was one of the people inside the vehicle at the time of the shooting, Bonney said.

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