RUMFORD — Police say a Dixfield man who cut himself after running from police late Wednesday night fled Rumford Hospital on Thursday afternoon wearing nothing but a hospital gown.

By late Thursday night, James Barbioni, 27, was still at large.

“There’s no reason to believe he’s a danger to the community,” Capt. Daniel Garbarini said late Thursday night. “If anything, he caused his own injuries and he made no threats to hurt anyone.”

The incident began shortly after 10 p.m. Wednesday when Cpl. Donald Miller and officer Joe Sage responded to a complaint of a man and a woman arguing loudly on Essex Avenue, Capt. Daniel Garbarini said Thursday.

When the officers approached, the man led police on a foot chase to an apartment on Falmouth Street, Garbarini said.

He said the apartment owner, when asked, gave Sage and Miller permission to enter the home. Inside, they learned the man had locked himself in a bedroom.

The officers interviewed a woman there to learn the man’s name and she initially gave them a false name, Garbarini said.

After the officers told her she could be arrested for providing a false name, she told them the man in the locked bedroom was Barbioni, the captain said.

That’s when they also learned that Barbioni was harming himself.

“He was in the room cutting himself up,” Garbarini said.

He said Barbioni cut his neck and arms with broken glass.

Sage and Miller kicked in the door, but the injured man refused to submit to arrest.

“Barbioni was yelling and swearing at them and bleeding profusely,” Detective Sgt. James Bernard said.

“One of the officers drew his Taser and pointed it at Barbioni,” Bernard said, “and that’s when he became compliant and laid down on the floor and put his hands behind his back.”

The officers called for Med-Care Ambulance and handcuffed Barbioni, who was taken to Rumford Hospital, Bernard said.

Barbioni was initially issued a summons on charges of refusal to submit to arrest or detention and violating bail conditions.

Shortly before 1 p.m. Thursday, a woman visiting Barbioni caused a disruption and police were called to the hospital to quell it.

Four Rumford officers, including Garbarini and Bernard, responded to the call for help, along with Maine State Police Trooper Kyle Tilsley.

Things quieted down after police “ejected” the distraught woman from the hospital.

And then, because Barbioni had an outstanding Androscoggin County District Court warrant charging failure to pay fines, a judge at the court had Rumford police serve the warrant on Barbioni, Garbarini said.

Once the court date was set for late June, that released Barbioni from police custody and into hospital custody, Garbarini said.

Barbioni left the hospital against medical advice, and Rumford police were again sent to look for him, Garbarini said.

“If anyone sees a man running around in a johnny, they should call us,” he said.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com

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