AUGUSTA — A Waterville man who holed up for 13 hours in his apartment over the weekend after allegedly firing a gun into the apartment below was being evicted by the landlord prior to the outburst and had apparently damaged his home’s walls and door casings with a hammer.
Michael Joslyn
Details about the police standoff involving Michael James Joslyn, 23, of Waterville, were contained in an affidavit by Waterville Police Detective David Caron that was filed Monday at the Capital Judicial Center.
Joslyn appeared in court Monday via video from the Kennebec County jail next door, and was told he is charged with aggravated reckless conduct, an offense carrying up to 10 years in prison; aggravated criminal mischief, which carries up to five years in prison; and refusing to submit to arrest, which carries up to 364 days in jail. Since the first two charges are felonies, Joslyn was not asked to enter a plea to the charges.
Joslyn’s landlord, Gregory Aucoin, who lived in an apartment below Joslyn’s at 124 College Ave., had confronted Joslyn on Nov. 23, 2017, to say that rent was overdue, according to Caron’s affidavit.
“During that conversation, Joslyn lifted up his shirt showing Aucoin that he had a firearm tucked into the waistband of his pants,” Caron wrote.
Police issued Joslyn a summons charging him with threatening display of a weapon. Joslyn was served with an eviction notice a few days later, Caron noted.
Waterville police aim assault weapons toward 124 College Ave. where Michael Joslyn was arrested following a 12-hour standoff Sunday.
Then, on Saturday, Aucoin called just before 9 p.m. Saturday to say shots were being fired in the building, Caron wrote. Aucoin told police that he was in his kitchen “when a bullet came through the ceiling and struck the floor to his apartment” about 10 feet from where he was sitting.
Police from a number of agencies converged on the area to cordon it off, and negotiators attempted to contact Joslyn, indicating that “he wanted to commit ‘suicide by cop,’ and that no matter how this ends, things weren’t going to end well for him.”
At about 9 a.m., Joslyn left the residence, and police reported that it appeared he had nothing in his hands. Then, at 11:19 a.m., a police officer fired a pepper ball gun at Joslyn, hitting him with several pepper ball rounds, and officers took him into custody.
Police obtained a warrant to search Joslyn’s residence and located a “HiPoint, semi-automatic, 40-caliber handgun and several magazines, both loaded and unloaded.” They found a bullet hole in the floor of Joslyn’s dining room and a spent shell casing nearby. The investigators reported finding a corresponding bullet hole in Aucoin’s ceiling and another in the floor of Aucoin’s kitchen.
Waterville police arrest Michael Joslyn on Sunday after shooting pepper-balls to disable him.
Another bullet hole was located in one of Joslyn’s bedrooms, and the bullet was retrieved from just below one of the upper cabinets in Joslyn’s apartment. Another bullet hole went through the bathroom wall into an empty front room, and police reported recovering a bullet on the wooden shingles of the covered porch of a building across the street at 125 College Ave. Two residents in that building said they were home all night during the incident, Caron wrote.
Caron also wrote that in just about every room in the apartment there was what appeared to be hammer and claw marks on the drywall and from what he could see, the entire apartment was going to need to be re-drywalled due to the amount of damage that had been done. In addition, several door casings were broken into pieces and would need to be replaced.
Justice Michaela Murphy ordered Joslyn held on $8,000 cash bail with conditions prohibiting him from contact with Aucoin, from possessing dangerous weapons, alcohol and illegal drugs and from being on College Avenue in Waterville. Joslyn was represented by Stephen Bourget, acting as lawyer of the day. Bourget said Joslyn filled out an application for a court-appointed attorney, and Murphy said the bail could be reviewed when a lawyer is appointed.
Seen on the video monitor, Joslyn was wearing a short-sleeved, one-piece, button up orange jail uniform. A dispositional conference in the case is set for Feb. 15, 2018.
When Murphy asked whether Joslyn had any criminal record, Assistant District Attorney Alisa Ross requested bail be set at $8,000 cash bail for Joslyn with a number of conditions. Ross said Joslyn had previous convictions for criminal trespass, violating bail and operating after suspension.
“Based upon conduct alleged, I will agree with amount of cash bail that’s been requested.” Murphy said.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
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