A 74-year-old agitated man who allegedly released bed bugs into Augusta City Hall has led himself into legal charges.
Kennebec County District Attorney, Meagan Maloney, said Charles Manning is now facing charges of misdemeanor assault and obstructing government administration.
According to the city’s Director of Development, Matt Nazar, a man who was later identified as Manning went to the general assistance office on Friday, June 2 to report and request help with a bed bug problem. He left after being told there was no help available through that office. Nazar said the man then returned later that afternoon and dumped more than 100 bed bugs out of a cup onto the counter.
Maloney said the assault charge came to light when a bed bug landed on a city worker. “That’s an assault whether it’s throwing down a container of bed bugs and having the bed bugs hit the person, whether it’s throwing an open container of beer and having beer splash on someone. So it’s simply looking at the actions. The actions are offensive physical contact,” she said.
City hall shut down so the bed bugs could be removed and didn’t reopen until Monday. Maloney said questions about Manning’s responsibility and capability to cover the cost of the cleaning will be addressed as part of the legal process.
Manning is scheduled to make his first court appearance on August 7.
Source: FOX40 News
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