PERU – Two Dixfield youths were taken to hospitals Saturday night after a post-graduation fight at a beer party in a gravel pit that police said “got out of control.”

Late that night, a 16-year-old Dixfield boy was treated at Rumford hospital for a stab wound that was less than an inch long, but required six stitches to close, said investigating Oxford County Cpl. Dane Tripp.

Tripp said the teen was allegedly stabbed by Brandon M. Coulthard, 18, who was badly beaten by a group of Dixfield teens – including the one stabbed – and taken to Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington.

Coulthard, Tripp said, suffered “a chipped tooth, had his lips badly cut, and there were some footprints on his back where they had been stomping him.”

Tripp was still interviewing witnesses Tuesday evening, but he believes that past problems between the youths led to the incident.

“According to witnesses, Coulthard and a juvenile from Canton drove to the pit party on Dow Brook Road, which is off the Dickvale Road,” Tripp said. “And, apparently, Brandon was not well-liked by those in attendance.”

Tripp said one youth – using abusive language – told Coulthard to leave, but Coulthard was attacked by the 16-year-old “and beaten up by him and some of his cronies.”

“They were kicking him and punching him, and then they started dragging him toward a puddle, I was told, to drown him,” Tripp said.

That’s when Coulthard, who graduated from Dirigo High School on Friday night, “whipped out” a folding knife with a 3-inch blade and “began flailing around him in self-defense,” Tripp said.

Shortly after the stabbing, Tripp said a parent arrived at the party “to drop off a kid, saw Brandon and took Brandon home, and dropped him off.”

Police received a 911 call at 11:33 p.m. that a person was being beaten up, and rushed to the scene.

“I wasn’t aware that there was a stabbing until I was told that by Brandon,” said Tripp, who confiscated the knife. A presumptive test, he added, revealed blood still on the blade.

“Alcohol was at the party, but Coulthard wasn’t drinking. He just showed up at the wrong place at the wrong time,” he added.

When his investigation is completed, Tripp said the reports and evidence would be turned over to the district attorney’s office to determine what charges would be filed for future prosecution.

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