LEWISTON – A woman accused of gashing the face of an Auburn man at a restaurant earlier this week claims she only meant to fling a drink as a means of defending herself.

In an interview Friday night, 22-year-old Darcy Pabst said the early Wednesday morning incident was an accident and that she did not mean to cut the man.

Pabst was arrested shortly after midnight Wednesday and accused of slashing the face of 22-year-old Colby Gilbert with a broken martini-style glass.

Darcy was arrested on a charge of aggravated assault, and Gilbert spent two days in a Lewiston hospital before he was discharged Friday. A relative of Gilbert said it took a total of 37 stitches to close the wound.

Pabst told her side of the story Friday in a series of comments on the Sun Journal blog. Later, she spoke with a reporter.

“Maybe I shouldn’t talk about it, but I want people to know the other half of the story,” Pabst said. “I know what happened, and I know it wasn’t my intention to hurt that guy.”

Pabst admitted that she cut Gilbert after an ongoing confrontation at Margarita’s Restaurant involving chips and salsa. She said she was sitting with four friends when a group of five men, including Gilbert, began harassing them.

Pabst claims the men stole chips and salsa from the table she was at. When she went to retrieve it from Gilbert, it set the stage for a later confrontation.

“I walked by, grabbed the chips and salsa,” Pabst wrote in the blog. “He refused to let go of the salsa and was laughing. So I dipped my pinkie finger in it and wiped it on the side of his face. They laughed and commented and I walked back to my seat . . .”

Pabst said she suspected that Gilbert and his friends were planning to do something to her in retaliation for the earlier incident with salsa.

“I was now on defense mode, nervous about what was going to happen,” Pabst wrote. “I made sure I had hold tight of my glass because I figured my only chance against these big guys would be to splash a drink in their face and run away.”

A short time later, Colby approached her. Police and some witnesses said he did not walk toward her in a threatening manner.

Investigators said Gilbert was planning to apologize for his group’s behavior when he was cut. A family member said Gilbert never talked with Pabst at all before he was assaulted.

But Pabst said she was afraid of Gilbert and his friends and that she believed they meant her harm.

“They all got up, three started to put jackets on and Colby came to my seat, right behind me,” she wrote. “He started to raise his hand with the beer glass in it, and I instinctively went to dump my drink on him first. I had no idea what this guy’s intentions were. I was scared and most definitely felt threatened.”

Pabst flung the glass toward Gilbert’s face. Police said she did so with enough force to break the glass and slice through skin and muscle, leaving Gilbert with a long gash from his temple to his neck.

Some of Gilbert’s friends and family members believe the assault was intentional. Police said the fact that a weapon was used to inflict bodily injury supported the charge of aggravated assault.

But Pabst said Friday night that she had no intention of inflicting an injury.

“I was a little annoyed by these guys, but nothing more than that,” she wrote. “I was happy and having a wonderful time with my friends. Besides that, even if I was angry, I don’t think I could ever get that upset where I have the guts and strength to hit someone with a glass . . . I wasn’t even swinging when I hit him, only planning to dump (it) on him before he did it to me.”

Pabst was arrested after she left the restaurant and called police from a nearby business. She has since been released from jail on bail.

Gilbert, an Auburn native, played hockey for Edward Little High School and later, the Lewiston Maineiacs. Pabst said she was hoping to find a way to apologize to him.

“My God, I feel so absolutely awful right now, too,” she wrote. “And would like to get a chance to speak to this guy and apologize from the bottom of my heart.”

Because of conditions of her release from jail, Pabst is prohibited from contacting Gilbert.