LEWISTON — A former police officer was arrested early Thursday and charged with violating bail stemming from an alleged assault on his girlfriend in the spring.
Timothy Darnell, 47, was arrested at 3:30 a.m. on Roland Avenue, charged with violating conditions of release, violating bail and criminal trespass.
An 18-year veteran of the police force, Darnell remained at the Androscoggin County Jail in Auburn on Thursday night. He had resigned from the Lewiston Police Department after his arrest in the spring.
Darnell is accused of violating conditions set after his arrest in May, during which he was charged with assaulting his girlfriend on Free Street in Portland. He was arrested a second time the next morning, accused of returning to the alleged victim’s home.
By that point, he already had surrendered his police badge and gun and had been placed on administrative leave. He resigned a short time later, according to Deputy Police Chief James Minkowsky.
In her complaint, the alleged victim wrote that Darnell “assaulted me the evening of (Saturday, May 5) in Portland.” She accused him of “grabbing me by the throat and shoving my head into a glass window.”
Friends of the couple have described the relationship as tumultuous. Protection orders have been filed prohibiting Darnell from approaching the woman.
Darnell started with the Lewiston Police Department in 1994. He served as a Drug Abuse Resistance Education officer, working with elementary schoolchildren. He was also a school resource officer and a Gang Resistance Education and Training instructor for Lewiston Middle School.
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Your profession does not dictate how you treat others. I hope he gets the help he needs.
The “help he needs” is prison time, to never be allowed to own a handgun again, and to be kept away from his victims. Christ, you’d think HE was the victim here!
yup i agree!
Sounds like this guy has a big batch of ‘Don’t-You-Know-Who-I-Am?’ coursing through his veins.
Or did.
All that and it doesn’t say what he did Thursday!
This guy is dangerous. If the woman doesn’t want you….get a life and move on.
The whole “police culture” is about making people do what they say, Immediately. That said, I’ll wait until after his court case to make a comment on this particular instance.