Dustyn Everett Merrill

An Anson man was in critical condition Sunday at a Bangor hospital after being stabbed in the neck late Saturday during an altercation on Front Street in Anson, according to a deputy sheriff.

At about 11:15 p.m., Dustyn Everett Merrill, 35, of Anson, stabbed James Andrew Tucci, 34, in the neck with a utility knife at an apartment at 7 Front St., according to Somerset County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Michael Mitchell.

Merrill was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and taken to the Somerset County Jail in Skowhegan. His bail has been set at $5,000.

Mitchell said early Sunday afternoon that Tucci was taken by Anson Madison Ambulance Service to Redington-Fairview General Hospital in Skowhegan after the stabbing and then was flown by LifeFlight helicopter to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.

“The last I heard, he was in critical condition with pretty serious injury in the area of his throat,” Mitchell said just before 1 p.m.

Mitchell said the Somerset Regional Communications Center in Skowhegan received a 911 call late Saturday and Sheriff’s Department Cpl. Joseph Jackson and deputies Tyler Lafreniere and Stacey Slate went to the scene.

State Police were called to help and the Major Crimes Unit responded, according to Mitchell.

“It’s been turned back over to us for investigation,” he said, adding Sheriff’s Office officials are working to determine why the stabbing occurred, including interviewing people who might have witnessed it.

The Somerset County District Attorney’s Office determined the initial charge should be aggravated assault, according to Mitchell.

“Obviously, they’ll make a determination what charges, if any, are additional after the investigation is complete,” he said.

Mitchell said neither Tucci nor Merrill lives at the apartment where the stabbing occurred, but both live within walking distance of that location on Front Street, which is off Main Street.