AUGUSTA — A Waterville couple charged with robbery and aggravated assault — after a woman was shot in the face with pellets in a dispute over $50 in Winslow — were ordered held without bail Monday.
A judge at the Capital Judicial Center told both Priscilla Pagliaroli, 22, and Peter Genica, 26, at separate hearings about the charges they were facing in connection with the Winslow event, plus other offenses.
Pagliaroli and Genica, who are being held at the Kennebec County jail, made initial appearances in the case via video link with the court.
Justice Michaela Murphy told each that the robbery charge carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and the aggravated assault, 10 years in prison.
The pair are also facing charges of criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon and theft.
According to an affidavit by Winslow Police Detective Alexander Jones, police were called to a Bellevue Street address early Friday for a woman who had been shot with pellets on the left side of her face, and was bleeding from her chin and ear.
The 41-year-old victim told police she was robbed of $50 by two friends while at Cumberland Farms in Winslow.
The woman told police the couple drove her to the convenience store to pick up some things. However, she said when they arrived, the woman she knew as Priscilla demanded money. When the victim refused, she said Pagliaroli pointed a gun in her face.
The woman told police that Genica turned around from the front seat and tried to hold her down, and that she grabbed for the end of the gun to try to hold it.
The victim said when she refused to give up the money, she was shot in the face. The victim said she was shot several times before handing over $50.
The victim then got out of the vehicle and walked to Bellevue Street.
Police reported seeing “three small lacerations which could be consistent with the size of a BB” in the victim’s face. After the victim was treated, she was told she had to return to the hospital later that day to have a BB removed, police indicated.
Jones noted that Pagliaroli had prior theft convictions and was on four sets of bail conditions. Genica was on two sets of bail conditions.
Police began searching for the couple in Waterville and located Genica’s car, which they impounded, saying it was the scene of the crime. Police later asked for public assistance in locating the couple, and were notified they were at King Court in Waterville.
While neither Pagliaroli nor Genica would initially talk to police, Pagliaroli later told an officer that the trio had gone to Cumberland Farms to get change so she could pay $50 to the victim for Suboxone. Pagliaroli also said the victim produced the gun and pointed it at Pagliaroli’s back.
Assistant District Attorney Christopher Coleman asked the judge to set $50,000 cash bail for Pagliaroli, but defense attorney Lisa Whittier sought the judge’s permission for Pagliaroli to have a bed-to-bed transfer to a substance abuse treatment facility as part of Operation Hope.
Coleman objected, saying, “We’re talking about a strong-arm robbery where a woman was shot in the fact twice with a pellet gun and has a serious injury. The pellet had to be removed from her face. Had she wanted help before now, she clearly could have done so.”
The judge set bail at $10,000 on the new charges, $1,000 bail on a March 9, 2018, felony theft charge from Marden’s in Waterville, and ordered Pagliaroli held without bail on motions to revoke the previous bail.
“I really think she’s a risk to the community,” Murphy said.
Genica’s bail on the charges from Friday’s incident was set at $2,500 after attorney Kimberly Richardson, acting as lawyer of the day, told the judge that while Genica was present, “He was not the primary aggressor; he was not the one holding the firearm.”
Murphy also ordered Genica held without bail on the motion to revoke bail, and on a concurrent $2,500 bail on a separate charge of unlawful trafficking in heroin that is alleged to have occurred in April.
Genica is due in court Thursday on other charges.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
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