Charles Frechette, 23, of Sebago Lake, and Garrett Powell, 22, of Portland allegedly threatened a Somali cab driver on the evening of December 14, 2004 outside a Portland convenience store.
Papers filed in Superior Court by Attorney General Steven Rowe have asked the court to ban the two men from any contact with the local taxi cab driver and from committing any future violations of the Maine Civil Rights Act.
The lawsuit alleges that shortly after midnight the pair was riding home with three friends in an American Taxi from a Christmas party in the Old Port area. While the taxi stopped at a convenience store on Park Street in Portland, another cab driver from Somalia asked the American Taxi to move so that the driver could put air in his cab’s tires.
The suit goes on to say that Powell emerged from the American Taxi, shouting racial epithets at the Somalian. He told the man to go back to his country and threatened the victim with physical harm.
Frechette reportedly came out of the store, joined the confrontation, used racial epithets and challenged the victim to fight. Then Frechette allegedly pulled out a knife and threatened to “cut” the man. The victim ran into the store and the cashier held the door closed so that the attackers could not come after the Somalian. The confrontation ended when the cashier called police.
“Many immigrants, like this man from Somalia, came to this country to seek sanctuary from the violence in their homelands,” said Rowe. “We will not tolerate threats of violence to persons of Somali ancestry based on bias against their race, color, or national origin.”
Portland Attorney Terrance Garmey, representing Frechette said, “People who know Charles, know that this kind of allegation is inconsistent with who he is. He stepped into the middle of a hornet’s nest, and we look forward to the opportunity to clear his name in court. It is a shame it has to go there.”
Garmey is looking forward to a day in court.
“There really are two sides to this story,” he said. “Now that the government is geared up, we will have a chance to tell the whole story in court. We are not going to jeopardize a fair trial. This is all we can say.”
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