BELFAST — A Belfast man was issued a summons June 2 after threatening a fellow driver with a collapsible baton, according to Belfast Police Chief Mike McFadden.

Andrew M. Clark, 28, was charged with criminal threatening as a result of the incident Thursday afternoon.

While the call initially appeared to be a standard complaint of erratic driving, according to McFadden, it quickly grew more serious in nature.

Waldo County Dispatch received the report from a concerned motorist who had been passed on the right by another vehicle, kicking up dust and debris. According to the victim, both vehicles had been traveling south through Belfast via Route 1 when the incident occurred, and both vehicles ultimately exited via the Reny’s off-ramp headed toward Augusta.

The man told law enforcement that when the vehicle had passed him, he’d seen the driver reaching forward and under the right side, “as though he was getting something from under the seat,” McFadden said. Unsure of what, if anything, had been grabbed, the complainant stopped his vehicle a safe distance from Clark’s vehicle when he approached the stop sign.

Clark reportedly put his car in park at the stop sign before exiting with an expandable baton and starting to move toward the complainant’s vehicle. 

In an attempt to prevent Clark from striking either himself or his vehicle, the man drove his car onto a relatively level patch of median and around Clark and his vehicle. 

“By this point [victim] had called the police,” McFadden said. “At some point [Clark] caught up,” and passed the victim’s vehicle again, McFadden stated.

Clark then turned onto Crocker Road, and the complainant remained on the line with 911 while following at a safe distance until Belfast Police responded to the scene. 

Clark told responding Officer Ryan Nickerson that the victim had tried to pass him at a stop sign while gesturing and using profane language. He also stated that it wasn’t until the victim had tried to pass him on the median that he had pulled the baton. 

Chief McFadden spoke with the victim before questioning Clark.

“Eventually he admitted the [victim] hadn’t tried to pass him or acted aggressively,” McFadden said. Clark also reportedly stated that he had only pulled the baton out to scare the man. 

 Erica Thoms can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com